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A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE 


BY 


GEORGIE    YOUNG. 


,  Si.oo. 


COPYRIGHT 

BY  GEORGIE  YOUNG. 
ALL  RIGHTS  RESERVED. 


To 

E,   Gertrude  Tlnayer 

One  of  God's   Noble  Women 

This  YolUirqe 

Is  Lovingly  Dedicated 
by  trie 

Hutrpr 


2047658 


Only  a  Magdalen,  I  heard  a  man  say — 

Who  made  her  a  Magdalen,  tell  me,  pray? 

Who  taught  her  to  sin,  who  led  her  astray  ? 

Who  found  her  an  innocent,  trusting  child  ? 

Who  left  her  to  death,  all  sin-defiled  ? 

O,  what  deceit  in  human  hearts  lurk ! 

Blush  for  mankind  when  you  look  at  man's  work. 


INTRODUCTION. 


My  object  in  giving  this  sketch  of  my  life  to 
the  world  is  two-fold.  First,  to  awaken  in  others, 
who  are  to-day  as  deep  in  the  darkness  as  I  was, 
the  glad  consciousness  that  with  God's  help  they, 
too,  can  come  into  the  light  of  a  pure  life.  Sec- 
ond, to  arouse  in  people  who  have  no  feeling  but 
condemnation  for  these  women — a  desire  to  aid 
in  lifting  them. 

GEORGIE  YOUNG. 


' 


PREFACE. 


"*****  When  waking  up  at 

last, 

I  told  you  I  waked  up  in  the  grave. 
Enough  so  !  —  it  is  plain  enough  so. 
We  wretches  can  not  tell  out  all  our 

wrong 

Without  offense  to  decent,  happy  folk. 
I  know  that  we  must  scrupulously  hint 
With  half-words,  delicate  reserves  the 

thing 
Which  no  one  scrupled  we  should  feel 

in  full. 
Let  pass  the  rest,  then  ;  only  leave  my 

oath 

Upon  this  sleeping  child — man's  violence, 
Not  man's  seduction,  made  me  what  I 

am. 
*****  And  you  call   it  being 

lost, 
That  down  came  next  day's  noon  and 

caught  me  there 
Half  gibbering  and  half  raying  on  the 

floor, 
And  wondering  what  had  happened  up 

in  Heaven, 
That  suns  should  dare  to  shine  when 

God  himself 
Was  certainly  abolished. " 

MARIAN  ERLE. 


CHAPTER  I. 


I  was  born  in  South  Creek,  Bradford  Co., 
Penn.,  April  8,  1858.  My  father  was  a  suc- 
cessful lawyer,  and  but  for  his  death  six  months 
after  my  birth  this  book  would  never  have 
been  written.  My  mother  was  left  a  moderate 
amount  of  means,  but  with  six  children — the 
oldest  not  yet  ten  years  of  age,  and  a  gener- 
ous nature  ready  to  aid  those  whose  need 

seemed    greater    than    her    own — this    soon 

/ 
melted. 

In  1 86 1   mother  moved  west  in  response 

to  a  request  from  her  father  who  lived  at , 

111.     Her  hope  was  to  make  a  home  here  for 


A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE. 


her  children.  My  earliest-  memory  is  of  my 
mother  earning  our  living  by  going  out  by  the 
day  among  the  neighboring  families.  Her 
one  desire  was  to  keep  us  together  till  we 
were  old  enough  to  care  for  ourselves.  One 
by  one  the  older  children  made  homes  for 
themselves,  not  one  helping  to  support  the 
three  younger  ones  still  dependent  on  mother's 
care.  When  I  was  eleven  years  old  mother's 
health  failed  and  she  was  forced  to  break  up 
the  home.  My  mother's  faith  in  God  was 
sublime.  During  these  eleven  years  of  strug- 
gle I  never  knew  one  day  nor  one  hour  when 
her  trust  in  God  failed  her.  Many  times  after 
working  hard  all  day  she  had  to  put  us  to  bed 
after  a  supper  of  only  bread  and  sweetened 
water.  Always  first  asking  God  to  bless  us 
and  thanking  him  for  the  mercies  I\Q  provided 
for  us. 


A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE. 


My  father  had  invested  some  money  in 
real  estate,  but  at  the  time  of  his  death  it  was 
worth  but  little.  Mother  decided  not  to  sell 
this  as  long  as  she  was  able  to  work,  knowing 
it  would  increase  in  value. 

My  oldest  brother,  now  about  twenty  years 
of  age,  told  mother  if  she  would  send  him  east 
with  authority  to  sell  this  property  he  would 
make  a  home  in  Michigan  for  her  and  the 
younger  children.  She,  as  guardian,  signed 
away  our  rights,  thus  giving  him  entire  con- 
trol of  the  property. 

I  would  gladly  pass  over  this  act  of  my 
brother  in  silence,  but  it  is  necessary  to 
speak  of  it  as  it  gives  the  key  to  his  future 
treatment  of  my  mother  and  me.  He  went 
east,  sold  the  property  and  on  his  return  in- 
vested it  in  milling  property,  and  to-day  is  one 
of  the  rich  lumber  merchants  of  Michigan. 


A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE. 


For  three  years  after  obtaining-  the  money,  he 
left  us  in  Illinois,  writing  to  mother  he  would 
send  for  us  as  soon  as  he  was  able.  Mother 
went  to  work  for  her  board,  sending  me  to  an 
uncle,  six  miles  from  Malta,  to  stay  a  few  weeks, 
intending  to  find  me  a  place  near  her  to  work 
for  my  board  and  go  to  school.  My  Uncle 
was  not  at  home,  and  my  Aunt  told  me  I  must 
go  back. 

I  knew  Mother  could  do  nothing  for  me, 
so  I  started  out  to  find  myself  a  place  to  work; 
remembering  what  Mother  had  often  said  that 
God  would  always  take  care  of  the  fatherless, 
I  prayed  to  Him  every  step  of  the  way  back 
to  Malta,  to  help  me  find  a  place  to  work.  I 
asked  every  one  I  met,  if  they  knew  of  any 
one  who  wanted  a  girl  to  work  for  her  board? 
I  found  a  place,  or  rather  a  lady  who  found 
me  on  the  street,  took  me  home  with  her  and 


A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE. 


kept  me  three  months.  I  wrote  to  my  Mother 
telling  her  not  to  worry,  that  I  had  found  a 
place,  and  would  come  to  see  her  as  soon  as 
I  could  earn  enough  money  to  pay  my  fare. 

Mrs.  Sutton  (this  was  the  lady's  name) 
was  very  good  to  me,  dressing  me  better  than 
I  had  ever  been  dressed  before  ;  at  the  end  of 
three  months  she  took  me  to  see  my  mother 
and  offered  to  adopt  me. 

Oh !  how  often  I  have  thought  of  that 
time  in  my  life,  how  changed  my  whole  life 
might  have  been  if  Mother  had  consented  to 
my  going  with  her  ;  but  she  believed  the  son 
who  had  gone  to  Michigan  would  soon  send 
for  us.  She  said  :  "I  can  not  give  her  up,  she 
is  my  baby;"  then  turning  to  me  she  asked : 
"  Do  you  want  to  leave  Mother  ?" 

Of  course  I  said  no.  What  child  wouldn't? 
Mrs.  Sutton  moved  soon  after  that  to  Denver, 


10  A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE. 

Colo.,  and  I  remained  with  mother.  A  short 
time  after  I  got  a  place  in  the  country  to  work 
for  my  board.  The  people  were  poor  farmers 
but  were  very  kind  and  good  to  me. 

One  night  overhearing  Mr.  Purcell  telling 
his  wife  he  must  hire  a  boy  to  keep  the  cattle 
out  of  the  corn,  I  waited  till  he  had  gone  to 
the  barn  and  then  asked  her  if  he  would  pay 
the  boy.  She  said,  "yes,  fifty  cents  per  week." 
I  told  her  if  she  would  let  me  do  it  I  would 
get  up  at  four  o'clock  with  the  milkers  and  get 
my  milk  pans  washed  and  my  morning  work 
done  and  then  take  the  children  down  with 
me  and  watch  the  cattle  myself..  By  doing 
this  I  would  still  be  able  to  do  the  same  work 
I  was  then  doing  for  my  board  and  earn 
fifty  cents  a  week  besides.  This  small  amount 
looked  like  a  great  deal  of  money  to  me.  She 
was  willing  to  let  me  try,  and  the  next  morn- 


A  MA  GDALEN '  S  LIFE .  11 

ing  I  was  up  long  before  daylight,  washing 
my  milk  pans  at  the  spring,  then  the  breakfast 
dishes,  and  altogether  happy  at  the  thought  of 
earning  some  money.  What  would  I  not  buy 
mother ! 

Eight  weeks  I  worked  like  that  and  then 
the  corn  was  all  picked.  How  I  did  work ! 
Did  you  ever  keep  cattle  out  of  a  cornfield  ? 
Of  course  I  could  not  wear  my  shoes — that 
would  not  pay — the  stubble  would  wear  them 
all  out ;  and  so,  day  after  day,  I  ran  through 
the  stubble,  cutting  my  feet  at  almost  every 
step,  and  asking  God  to  "keep  the  snakes 

4 

away. 

At  night,  after  the  work  was  done,  I  would 
bathe  my  feet  at  the  spring  to  relieve  them, 
careful  not  to  complain  or  they  might  send  for 
the  boy.  What  would  not  my  four  dollars 
buy  ?  I  got  on  very  well  till  the  frosts  came, 


12  A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE. 

then  I  made  me  a  nest  in  one  of  the  straw 
stacks,  and  would  cover  my  feet  with  the 
straw  and  thus  keep  them  warm.  The  last 
three  weeks  it  was  not  much  trouble  to  keep 
them  in  the  stubble — they  almost  seemed  to 
be  sorry  for  me,  or  else  they  had  been  driven 
back  so  often  they  thought  it  useless  to  make 
the  attempt. 

The  first  of  November,  Mr.  Purcell  took 
me  to  town  to  see  mother.  He  told  her  he 
would  keep  me  that  winter  and  send  me  to 
school.  This  was  a  great  joy  to  mother  as 
the  letter  from  the  son  in  Michigan  had  not 
come  and  her  health  was  very  poor.  She 
thanked  him,  with  tears  in  her  eyes,  for  his 
kindness  to  me. 

That  winter  I  had  three  weeks'  schooling 
and  the  next  spring  they  gave  me  75  cents  a 
week,  as  I  was  then  old  enough  to  wash  and 


A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE.  13 

iron  and  do  many  things  about  the  house  I 
could  not  do  the  year  before. 

In  July,  Mrs.  Purcell's  sister  came  from 
Aurora,  Illinois,  and  they  did  not  need  me. 
Mr.  Purcell  took  me  ten  miles  south  to  his 
brother's  farm,  I  worked  there  till  May,  1872, 
when  I  started  for  Michigan  with  Mother. 

When  we  arrived  at  Sand  Lake  we  found 
my  brother  was  engaged  to  a  lady  of  that 
place,  and  from  the  first  he  made  us  feel  we 
were  in  the  way.  Many  Sand  Lake  people 
will  remember  the  bare-footed  girl  who  used 
to  take  a  ten-quart  pail  and  go  out  into  the 
marshes  and  pick  cranberries,  and  sell  them 
for  two  cents  a  quart. 

My  brother  gave  us  barely  enough  to  pro- 
vide for  the  table.  Mother  often  said  to  me, 
"  when  you  have  a  home  of  your  own  then 
poor  old  mother  will  come  and  live  with  you." 


14  A  MAGDALEN S  LIFE. 


CHAPTER  II. 

My  second  brother,  two  years  older  than 
I,  who  worked  nights  watching  the  slab-fires 
around  Stone  &  Seeley's  mill,  was  saving 
every  penny  he  earned  to  come  to  the  State 
Fair  at  Grand  Rapids  that  fall.  He  saved 
enough  money  to  take  me  with  him. 

I  thought  of  it  day  and  night,  Grand 
Rapids  to  me  holding  almost  everything  there 
could  be  to  see  in  the  world,  and  so  on  Sep- 
tember 25th,  1872,  I  came  to  Grand  Rapids 
for  the  first  time.  I  had  never  seen  a  street 
car — everything  was  new  and  strange ;  after 
a  while  my  brother  left  me  sitting  on  a  bench 


A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE  15 


and  told  me  to  be  sure  and  stay  there  until  he 
came  back. 

Not  far  from  where  he  left  me  was  one  of 
these  round-about  swings,  I  looked  at  it  for 
some  time,  thinking  I  could  go  nearer  and  see 
just  how  it  looked  and  what  made  it  go  round 
and  round  and  then  come  back  to  the  bench. 

I  went  but  when  I  tried  to  find  my  way 
back  I  could  find  no  empty  seat  and  no 
bench  that  looked  like  the  one  I  had  left.  I 
was  completely  turned  around — that  sense  of 
being  alone,  every  face  strange,  terrified  me 
and  I  commenced  to  cry.  It  was  growing 
dark,  people  were  leaving  the  grounds  and 
hundreds  passed  me  with  just  a  glance,  more 
with  not  even  that. 

At  last  a  young  looking  woman  came  to 
me  and  asked  me  what  I  was  crying  for,  I  told 
her  I  lived  in  Sand  Lake,  that  I  had  lost  my 


16  A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE. 

brother,  and  I  did  not  know  what  to  do.  She 
said  don't  cry  any  more  I  will  take  you  home 
with  me  and  to-morrow  we  will  find  your 
brother. 

This  woman's  name  was  Jennie  Holden. 
Even  now  I  blush  to  call  her  woman. 

Bad  as  I  have  been,  no  girl  can  add  to  my 
dark  record  by  laying  her  ruin  at  my  door.  I 
have  learned  since  that  day,  that  there  are 
fallen  women  who  delight  in  adding  one  more 
to  their  ranks,  in  making  as  many  outcasts  as 
possible. 

She  was  of  the  class  who  take  up  that  life 
from  choice — God  pity  them. 

One  word  more  of  Jennie,  she  is  living  to- 
day, or  was  a  few  months  ago  and  keeping  a 
house  of  ill-fame  in  Leadville.  Her  boarders 
were  three  of  her  own  sisters. 


A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE.  17 


Think  of  this  all  you  who  read  these  lines, 
if  you  have  daughters,  if  you  have  sisters, 
think  of  another  soul  as  pure  that  day  as  any 
one  of  them,  alone  in  a  city  for  the  first  time 
in  her  life  and  in  the  hands  of  such  a  woman  ! 

She  took  me  home  with  her,  gave  me 
something-  to  eat  and  talked  very  kindly  to  me 
in  order  to  learn  all  I  had  to  tell ;  that  I  was 
fatherless  and  ignorant  of  the  world  in  every 
respect. 

Early  in  the  evening  two  men  called,  one 
of  whom  she  introduced  as  Mr.  Bell,  a  friend 
from  Chicago,  the  other  as  Mr.  Young.  At 
this  time  she  was  not  keeping  a  public  house 
of  ill-fame;  apparently  everything  was  respect- 
able, she  was  living  with  her  mother  and  little 
sisters.  She  was  of  that  class  of  prostitutes 
who  seem  to  have  been  born  with  a  natural 
tendency  to  vice.  There  were  five  girls  in  this 


18  A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE.  ' 

: » 

family  and  to-day  every  one  of  them  is  a  pros- 
titute. 

This  evening  as  I  sat  and  listened  no 
thought  of  evil  entered  my  mind.  I  thought 
the  reason  they  laughed  and  talked  so  freely, 
was  that  they  were  old  friends  and  then  it 
was  in  a  city — perhaps  that  was  the  way  peo- 
ple did  in  the  city. 

Mr.  Charlie  Young  was  very  attentive  to 
me  in  his  conversation,  none  of  which  I  under- 
stood. My  thoughts  were  far  from  them,  with 
my  mother,  thinking  how  sleepless  the  night 
would  be  for  her,  not  knowing  what  had 
become  of  me. 

After  they  had  gone,  she  told  me  how 
sorry  Mr.  Young  and  her  friend  felt  for  me 
when  she  told  them  my  story — that  they  were 
coming  the  next  day  to  take  us  out  to  the 
grounds,  that  she  had  promised  Mr.  Young  I 


A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE.  19 

would  ride  with  him  so  he  could,  if  possible, 
find  some  of  my  friends.  Of  course  I  was 
very  glad  to  do  anything  she  said — was  she 
not  my  friend  ? 

Poor  foolish  girl,  I  did  not  know  then 
what  perfidy  existed  in  the  world— I  did  not 
know  women  could  lose  all  sense  of  shame 
and  seek  to  drag  others  down  into  the  lowest 
depths  of  Hell  with  them,  and  I  thank  God 
that  of  the  class  to  which  I  belonged  there  is 
not  one  in  five  hundred  that  will. 

At  nine  o'clock  the  next  morning-  a  double 
carriage  drove  up  in  front  of  her  house.  On 
the  way  to  the  fair  Charlie  Young  plied  me 
with  all  sorts  of  questions  and  without  any 
trouble  found  out  what  little  there  was  to 
know  of  my  simple  history.  I  remember  how 
I  told  him  in  an  artless,  childlike  way  that  we 
were  very  poor,  and  that  I  loved  my  mother 


80  A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE. 


dearly,  and  that  sometime  when  I  had  a  home 
she  would  live  with  me.  After  driving  round 
the  grounds  for  some  time,  they  proposed 
going  into  a  canvas  show,  perhaps  I  would  see 
some  one  there  who  knew  me. 

Of  course  it  is  unnecessary  for  me  to  tell 
you  I  could  see  no  one  I  knew,  and  so  night 
came  again  and  .no  hand  was  near  to  save  me 
from  the  Hell  toward  which  I  was  being  led, 
all  the  more  surely  because  I  knew  it  not. 
After  leaving  the  grounds  they  drove  over  on 
the  west  side  of  the  river.  As  we  passed  a 
large  two-story  house,  Jennie  said  "Well, 
Charlie,  are  you  going  in  to  see  your  Aunt?" 
"No,  I  guess  not,  he  replied."  As  we  drove 
on,  he  asked  me  how  I  liked  the  looks  of  that 
house  ? 

Then  he  told  me  he  owned  it  and  let  his 
aunt  live  there  until  he  married.  Then  they 


A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE.  21 

took  us  back  to  Jennie's,  saying,  as  they  left  us, 
they  would  come  back  and  bring  her  some 
tickets  for  Black  Crook  at  Luce's  Hall,  that 
night. 

Thus  did  Jennie  deliberately  set  about  to 
work  the  ruin  of  a  soul.  She  told  me  how 
wealthy  this  Charlie  Young  was,  that  he 
wanted  a  wife  and  asked  me  how  I  would  like 
to  get  married  ?  What  if  I  was  only  fifteen 
years  old,  she  said,  that  was  nothing — girls 
often  marry  at  that  age.  You  say  your 
brother  is  not  kind  to  your  mother,  why  don't 
you  get  married  and  bring  your  mother  to  a 
home  of  your  own. 

She  talked  on  this  way  till  Charlie  Young 
returned  then  she  made  an  excuse  to  leave  the 
room  for  a  few  minutes.  He  immediately 
began  to  urge  me  to  marry  him.  He  said  "if 
your  brother  cared  for  you  he  would  have 


A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE. 


come  to  the  city  to-day  to  find  you ;  if  you 
will  marry  me  I  will  take  you  to  Sand  Lake  to 
get  your  mother  and  she  can  always  live  with 
you — much  more  he  said  that  I  do  not  re- 
member. 

I  was  so  frightened — me  get  married  I 
thought!  why  it  was  only  yesterday  I  was 
running  barefoot  through  the  woods  picking 
berries!  Then  he  said,  "think  of  your 
mother  what  you  could  do  for  her — I  did  think 
of  her — if  I  could  only  see  mother  happy  once 
more,  if  I  only  could  see  her  in  a  home  such 
as  he  had  shown  me  I  would  do  anything  that 
was  right — even  get  married,  for  of  course 
you  must  realize  I  knew  nothing  of  love. 

So  they  took  me,  those  fiends  in  human 
form,  to  the  home  of  Judge  Putnam,  Jennie 
telling  me,  at  the  last  moment  as  we  stood  on 
the  steps  of  the  judge's  house,  to  say  I  was 


A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE. 


seventeen  years  old.  "  But  I  am  only  fifteen," 
I  said.  "Yes,  I  know,"  she  answered,  "but 
say  you  are  seventeen,  it  will  sound  better." 

So  we  went  in — ignorance  and  innocence 
led  by  wickedness  and  cunning.  But  I  was 
so  hopeless  of  ever  seeing  mother,  and  now 
this  man  was  going  to  marry  me  and  give  us 
both  a  home,  so  I  kept  saying  mother,  mother, 
over  to  myself,  and  thanking  God  who  had 
sent  him  to  take  care  of  us — for  did  not  God 
know,  did  He  not  watch  over  the  fatherless? 

•«• 

Judge  Putnam  asked  me  how  old  I  was.  I 
looked  at  Jennie  and  said  seventeen.  He  said 
"you  are  young  to  be  married."  It  was  all  I 
could  do  to  keep  from  crying.  Oh,  if  I  only 
had  cried  in  that  pure  home,  with  help  so 
near.  How  easily  I  could  have  been  saved 
all  the  bitter  experiences  I  have  since  passed 
through.  But  I  never  dreamed  of  wrong — at 


34  A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE. 

that  moment  I  was  thinking  of  what  I  would 
be  able  to  do  for  mother,  for  would  I  not  be 
married  and  have  a  home  of  my  own  ? 

In  my  short  life  I  had  never  heard  of  an 
evil  woman.  I  was  an  ignorant  country  child. 
I  knew  my  sisters  were  married  and  had 
homes  and  I  thought  if  a  man  asked  you  to 
marry  him  he  must  be  the  one  God  had  sent 
to  make  you  a  home.  Remember  I  had  never 
had  a  mother's  constant  care  and  advice,  only 
what  she  could  give  her  children  in  the  morn- 
ing and  evening.  I  do  not  remember  of  one 
day  my  mother  did  not  go  out  to  work  when 
she  was  able ;  often  she  would  go  to  work  be- 
fore we  were  awake,  leaving  our  breakfast  and 
the  open  bible  on  the  table  together. 

So  the  words  were  spoken  that  made  us, 
in  the  eyes  of  the  law,  man  and  wife. 


A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE.  25 

So  the  law  was  made  an  innocent  party  to 
a  terrible  crime.  Why  did  he  go  through  the 
legal  form  of  marriage  ?  I  could  never  under- 
stand how  anything  that  bears  the  name  of 
man  can  marry  a  girl  with  the  deliberate  in- 
tention to  work  her  ruin.  I  can  not  answer- 
still,  in  after  years,  when  looking  back  to  see 
just  where  the  sin  in  my  life  began,  I  was 
glad  to  remember  that  I  was  innocent  then 
and  pure  in  thought.  I  knew  no  evil,  still 
he  could  not  have  ruined  me  without  that 
form  of  marriage. 


26  A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE. 


CHAPTER  III. 


The  morning  papers  had  a  notice  of  the 
marriage.  His  mother,  who  lived  on  the  cor- 
ner of  Crosby  and  Turner  Streets,  one  block 
from  Jennie's,  sent  word  to  Charlie  to  come 
home. 

He  was  gone  an  hour  or  two,  then  came 
back  after  me,  saying- :  "  Come  with  me  to 
my  mother's  house ;"  but  how  changed  he 
looked — sullen  and  sneakish.  The  thought 

came  to  me  at  once,  perhaps  his  aunt  don't 

..       * 
want  to  move — what  else  could  it  be. 

I  soon  knew  the  reason  ;  his  mother  was 
waiting  for  us  with  two  or  three  of  the  friendly 


A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE. 


neighbors  who  had  read  the  notice  and  were 
anxious  to  see  Charlie's  new  wife. 

Mrs.  Young  was  a  tailoress,  taking  work 
home  from  the  clothing  store  of  Houseman  & 
May. 

I  shall  never  forget  the  little  room  into 
which  he  took  me.  Pants  and  vests  lay 
around  on  the  table  and  chairs.  As  we  en- 
tered the  room  Mrs.  Young  put  on  her  glasses 
she  was  holding  in  her  hand,  and  gave  me  a 
long  look,  then  said  :  "So  this  is  the  girl  you 
have  married — where  does  she  belong — who 
do  you  expect  will  support  her?"  As  Charlie 
did  not  answer,  she  directed  her  conversation 
to  me,  saying :  "  Did  Charlie  tell  you  he 
could  not  support  himself,  that  he  lived  on 
his  father  and  mother,  doing  nothing  except 
run  the  streets  ?" 

I  looked  at  my  husband  of  one  day— his 


A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE. 


eyes  were  cast  down  to  the  floor  and  the  evi- 
dent truth  of  what  his  mother  said  was  like  a 
knife  to  my  heart.  I  burst  out  crying,  and 
kneeling  down  at  her  feet  I  begged  his  mother 
to  send  me  to  my  mother.  I  wanted  to  see 
mother  once  more  and  die. 

She  said,  "don't  act  like  that !  What  kind 
of  a  girl  are  you  to  be  away  from  home  alone  ? 
and  what  were  you  thinking  of  to  marry  a.  man 
you  don't  know  ?  How  old  are  you  ?"  Fifteen 
last  April"  I  answered  ;  "then  you  told  a  lie, 
for  the  paper  says  you  said  seventeen."  This 
touched  me — I  did  tell  a  lie,  I  thought,  that  is 
why  I  am  in  all  this  trouble. 

I  looked  at  Charlie  Young  to  see  if  he 
would  not  tell  his  mother  the  truth,  that  they 
had  told  me  to  say  I  was  seventeen — not  one 
word  did  he  say,  and  young  as  I  was,  my 
contempt  for  him  was  so  great  I  could  not 


A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE.  29 

speak  or  try  to  explain— what  did  it  matter  ? 
all  had  happened  that  could. 

Little  did  I  think  that  that  was  only  one 
day  of  long  years  of  suffering.  The  next  day  I 
had  a  high  fever,  and  toward  night  I  grew 
worse,  calling  for  mother  to  come  and  save  me. 

Dr.  Prindle,  the  family  physician,  was 
called  in ;  he  pronounced  me  very  ill.  This 
sickness  lasted  two  weeks,  then  I  was  able  to 
walk  around.  Mrs.  Young  asked  me  if  I  could 
work — she  said  I  must  find  a  place  to  work  as 
they  were  too  poor  to  care  for  me,  and  they 
had  written  to  Sand  Lake  to  my  brother  and 
received  no  answer.  I  told  her  I  could  woik, 
but  how  could  I  find  a  place  to  work?  She 
told  me  to  go  to  the  Bridge  Street  House  and 
ask  for  a  place  there. 

I  went,  and  taking  a  chair  in  an  unob- 
served place,  sat  there  hour  after  hour,  not 


30  A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE. 

knowing-  to  whom  I  should  speak.  Finally,  as 
it  was  growing  dark,  a  lady  who  had  passed 
through  the  room  several  times,  asked  me 
if  I  was  waiting  for  some  one  ?  I  said,  oh  no  ! 
I  want  to  find  a  place  to  work  ;  she  replied : 
"we  need  no  help  at  present."  I  returned  to 
Mrs.  Young  and  told  her  that  they  did  not 
want-  me.  The  next  day  she  took  me  down 
town  and  showed  me  the  block  where  I  would 
find  an  intelligence  office,  saying,  "tell  them 
yeu  are  a  poor  girl  and  want  a  place  to  work." 
I  went  up  the  stairs  but  did  not  know  one 
office  from  the  other,  and  through  ignorance 
stumbled  into  prosecuting  Attorney  Burlin- 
game's  office.  He  kindly  asked  if  there  was 
anything  he  could  do  for  me  ?  I  told  him  I 
was  a  poor  girl  and  wanted  to  find  a  place  to 
work,  he  replied,  you  have  made  a  mistake, 
t,his  is  not  the  intelligence  office.  You  look 


A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE.  31 

young  to  go  out  to  service — have  you  no 
home  ? 

These  were  the  first  kind  words  I  had 
heard  for  days,  arid  I  burst  into  tears.  He 
gave  me  a  chair  and  questioned  me — I  told  him 
all ;  he  questioned  me  very  closely  in  regard 
to  my  brother,  saying,  "you  must  let  your 

brother  know  at  once."  I  told  him  I  knew  my 
brother  would  not  let  me  come  back,  as  he 
had  never  wanted  me  or  mother  there,  and  I 
would  rather  not  have  mother  know  of  the 
trouble  I  was  in,  as  she  could  not  help  me. 
He  called  Sheriff  Haynes  into  his  office  and 
they  decided  to  take  me  to  the  only  place  they 
knew  of  open  to  friendless  girls — the  county 
jail,  until  they  investigated  my  story  and  in- 
formed my  brother  where  I  was. 

Mr.  Burlingame  said  "the  child  must  be 


A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE. 


mistaken  ;  if  her  brother  knew  this  he  would 
come  after  her  and  take  her  home." 

So  they  took  me  to  the  jail.  I  would  like 
to  say  that  in  all  these  years  I  have  never  for- 
gotten the  kind  words  of  Mrs.  Haynes.  She 
said  to  keep  up  good  courage  ;  I  would  soon 
be  sent  to  my  brother. 

"Never  be  a  bad  girl,"  she  said,  "they  are 
often  brought  here  and  locked  up,  but  they 
soon  die.  When  Mr.  Peck,  the  turn-key, 
came  to  lock  the  door  at  night  I  begged  of 
him  not  to  lock  me  in  that  place  and  asked 
him  what  I  had  done.  He  said  "you  have 
done  nothing  to  be  locked  up  for,  but  we  have 
to  lock  up  every  one  that  is  brought  here  and 
there  was  no  other  place  for  you." 

The  next  day  I  was  sick.  Dr.  Wooster, 
county  physician,  was  called  and  a  bottle  of 
medicine  was  sent  into  me. 


A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE.  33 

Then  the  jail  was  no  place  for  me  ;  what 
was  to  be  done  with  me  ?  The  morning 
papers  had  given  an  account  of  an  impromptu 
marriage,  stating  that  Charlie  Young  was  one 
of  Grand  Rapids'  sharpers  who  ought  to  have 
been  in  state  prison  long  ago,  and  that  I  was 
of  respectable  family  in  Sand  Lake.  Then  a 
warrant  was  issued  for  his  arrest,  but  when 
the  officer  went  to  serve  it  he  had  disap- 
peared. 

An  appeal  was  made  to  the  benevolent 
ladies  of  the  city,  and  I  was  represented  as  a 
girl  sorely  in  need  of  assistance.  But  no  help 
came,  and  because  there  was  no  other  place  I 
was  taken  to  the  poor  house.  Of  course  they 
could  not  keep  me  at  the  jail  as  I  had  com- 
mitted no  crime.  I  was  simply  sick  and  friend- 
less. The  doctor  came  to  see  me  once  after  I 
was  taken  to  the  poor-house.  After  leaving 


34  A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE. 

me  there  a  week  Mrs.  Young  came  after  me, 
Mr.  Burlingame  having  told  them  that  if  they 
did  not  do  something  for  me  Charlie  would 
be  traced,  brought  back  and  imprisoned. 
Mrs.  Young  said  she  was  perfectly  willing 
and  talked  so  kindly  to  me  in  the  presence  of 
the  officers  that  I  thought  I  must  have  been 
mistaken  in  thinking  she  told  me  not  to  come 
back  that  day  she  showed  me  where  to  find 
the  intelligence  office. 

But  I  soon  found  I  had  not  been  mistaken. 
Never  in  my  life  had  I  had  such  a  scolding, 
but  it  did  not  hurt  and  cut  as  sharp  words  had 
always  done  before.  I  was  fast  learning  that 
mother's  God  did  not  keep  the  fatherless  out 
of  trouble.  When  that  hope  began  to  wane 
the  first  hardness  took  its  place.  She  accused 
me  of  being  a  wicked  girl  to  try  to  have  her 
son  arrested,  and  I  thought  to  myself — yes,  I 


A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE.  .         35 

must  be  bad.  I  have  been  locked  up  in  jail — 
in  the  poor-house.  She  must  be  right.  * 

Have  you  ever  been  in  a  poor-house — not 
as  a  visitor  but  as  an  inmate?  I  had  a  pie-tin 
and  iron  spoon  to  eat  with.  It  was  nothing 
unusual  for  some  one  at  my  side  to  fall  over 
in  a  Jit. 

This  all  happened  to  me  before  I  had 
committed  one  criminal  act,  and  yet  society 
wonders  at  the  increase  of  prostitutes. 

Mrs.  Young  told  Mr.  Burlingame  she  could 
not  afford  to  pay  a  doctor  and  Charlie  had 
gone  to  Canada,  so  Dr.  Wooster  attended 
me  through  my  sickness. 

As  soon  as  I  was  able  to  walk,  I  com- 
menced to  work  for  my  mother-in-law,  carry- 
ing pants  and  vests  that  were  finished  to  the 
store  and  returning  with  more  to  make.  Mrs. 
Young  had  sewed  a  wide  tuck  in  a  water- 


86  A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE 

proof  dress  of  hers  and  given  it  to  me  to  wear, 
as  I  was  destitute  of  clothing.  I  tried  not  to 
mind  what  was  said  to  me — I  must  deserve 
it  all. 

• 

Every  night  I  prayed  God  to  forgive  me 
for  telling  the  lie  I  did  about  my  age  and  to 
make  me  a  better  girl,  so.  Mrs.  Young  would 
like  me  and  not.  send  me  back  to  the  poor- 
house.  A  month  or  six  weeks  after  I  was 
taken  from  the  poor-house  Mrs.  Young  said 
she  expected  Charlie  back  and  she  hoped  he 
would  come  and  take  care  of  me.  "  Oh,  send 
me  back  to  the  poor-house !  "  I  said,  in  pas- 
sionate terror,  for  a  sense  of  horror  seized  me 
at  the  thought  of  living  with  that  man. 

What  to  do  I  did  not  know.  If  he  was 
coming  home  I  must  find  a  place  to  work  for 
myself.  So  I  thought  and  thought  all  night, 
what  was  the  best  thing  to  do.  I  would  not 


A  MAGDALEtrS  LIFE.  37 

* 

go  to  an  intelligence  office,  they  might  send 
me  to  jail.  I  did  not  know  that  what  I  had 
already  passed  through  would  bar  me  out  of 
almost  every  respectable  house.  I  had  been 
in  jail,  it  had  all  been  in  the  papers,  and  the 
brand  was  almost  the  same  as  if  I  had  really 
sinned. 

I  had  not  then  learned  to  lie,  so  I  started 
out  one  afternoon  with  a  bundle  of  vests,  de- 
termined to  go  from  door  to  door  till  I  found 
a  place  to  work.  I  met  an  officer,  and  being 
afraid  he  would  know  I  was  out  looking  for  a 
place  and  take  me  to  jail  again,  I  ran  as  fast 
as  I  could  till  he  was  out  of  sight.  I  had 
never  seen  such  fine  looking  houses.  I 
stopped  at  one,  rapped  at  the  door,  and  asked 
if  they  wanted  a  girl  to  work.  The  lady  said 
"  are  you  the  nurse-girl  I  expected  ?"  I  did 
not  know  the  meaning  of  nurse-girl,  so  she 


A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE. 


said  "can  you  take  care  of  children  ?"  "  Oh, 
yes,"  I  said ;  "I  have  worked  out  taking  care 
of  children"  (my  mind  going  back  to  the  corn- 
field.) I  thought  if  she  will  only  let  me  work 
here  it  will  be  just  like  heaven. 

She  then  asked  me  for  references.  I  said 
"  what's  that  ?"  Then  she  asked  me  who 
sent  me  there — if  I  was  sent  from  the  intelli- 
gence office.  I  said  "no,  I  am  finding  my- 
self a  place."  Then  I  told  her  who  I  was,  and 
once  more  by  telling  the  truth  was  coldly  told 
I  was  not  wanted  there. 

Oh,  let  me  appeal  to  you  for  poor  friendless 
girls  who  ask  you  to  take  them  in  and  give 
them  work — -do  not  turn  them  from  your  door 
because  they  have  no  references.  Do  not 
turn  them  away  with  hope  dead  within  them 
— do  not  turn  a  girl  from  your  door  because 
she  does  not  perfectly  understand  your  work. 


A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE. 


Perhaps  she  is  fatherless  and  her  mother  has 
had  to  work  by  the  day  to  keep  her  little  ones 
together,  trusting  in  God  to  provide  a  home 
for  them  when  old  enough  to  work.  Would 
you  not  call  such  a  mother  a  noble  woman, 
and  is  not  her  child  worth  saving  ? 

Still  so  many  do  not  care,  they  simply 
want  a  girl  competent  to  do  their  work  with- 
out having  to  be  troubled  themselves  about  it. 
Then  at  night  they  pray  the  Father  to  lead 
them  aright  and  show  them  the  work  he 
wishes  them  to  do,  yet  they  seem  to  keep  as 
far  as  possible  from  the  Father's  work. 

Do  you  think  in  that  last  day  God  will  ask 
for  references  of  some  poor  girl  whose  only 
sin  is  poverty  ? 

That  night  I  slept  on  the  ground  out  on 
South  Division  street,  and  still  I  had  com- 
mitted no  wrong,  unless  it  was  a  sin  not  to 


40  A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE. 

have  references.  I  prayed  constantly  to  God 
to  forgive  me  for  telling  that  lie  about  my  age 
and  make  me  a  better  girl.  I  thought  it  must 
be  I  was  a  bad  girl — God  would  certainly  care 
for  me  if  I  was  not  bad. 

Many  times  in  my  after  life  I  have  passed 
that  stately  house  in  this  city  with  fearful  bit- 
terness in  my  heart,  and  years  after,  when 
trouble  that  whitened  the  mother's  hair,  entered 
that  home,  I  was  happy  in  my  heart  to  see  the 
lines  deepen  on  her  face,  for  I  said  to  myself, 
if  she  had  kept  me  that  night,  only  that  one 
night,  my  life  might  have  been  saved.  In 
those  days  I  thought  I  was  lost  soul  and  body. 

When  I  found  there  was  hope  for  any  soul 
on  earth  that  repented,  then  the  bitterness  left 
my  heart ;  I  could  have  begged  her  forgive- 
ness, on  my  knees,  for  the  curses  I  used  to 
call  heaven  to  witness  when  we  would  pass  on 


A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE.  41 

the  street,  she  in  her  lovely  private  carriage. 
If  her  glance  wandered  my  way  she  would 
quickly  turn  her  head,  lest  the  look  might  con- 
taminate her  (for  my  face  afterward  came  to 
be  known  on  the  streets  as  a  woman  of  the 
town). 

There  was  no  deeper  contempt  in  her  face 
for  me,  than  in  my  heart  for  her,  for  I  said  to 
myself,  you  are  good,  you  belong  to  the 
church,  you  will  go  to  heaven,  but  if  the  bible 
is  true  and  God  is  just  He  will  ask  you,  "  why 
did  you  turn  that  poor  girl  from  your  door  ?  " 

God  will  know,  I  thought,  that  I  was  inno- 
cent of  any  wrong  that  night  and  looking  for 
work,  and  then  I  will  have  a  mother  there  and 
she  will  say  to  you,  "  where  is  my  child  ?"  I 
knew  I  would  not  be  tKere  but  I  could  almost 
think  how  God's  voice  would  say  "you  lost 
your  children  on  earth  for  you  were  not  a 


42  A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE. 

mother,  simply  a  woman  who  has  given  birth 
to  children — you  had  no  compassion  for  the 
motherless. 

Will  not  the  results  of  our  acts  and  words 
be  known  on  that  great  day  ?  the  kind  words 
that  have  kept  alive  hope,  and  saved  some  soul 
— will  they  not  be  known  ? 


MAGDALEN'S  LIFE.  43 


CHAPTER  IV. 

The  next  morning  I  was  sitting-  on  the 
side-walk,  hungry  and  cold,  with  a  dirty  tear- 
stained  face.  People  passed  me  by,  going  to 
their  work  with  tin  pails,  the  factory  whistles 
were  blowing,  calling  those  who  take  part  in 
the  busy  world  to  their  work. 

I  counted  the  pails  as  they  passed  me,  and 
thought,  I  have  no  place  in  the  world — even 
the  dress  I  wear  is  not  my  own.  I  thought 
of  the  poor-house — it  was  not  so  bad  as  this  ; 
I  was  not  hungry  there — only  afraid  of  the 
half-crazy  ones  who  talked  to  themselves  all 


44  A  MAGDALEK'S  LIFE. 


the  time,  and  looked  at  one  so  queer — what  if 
Maggie  Doyle  did  have  fits — there  were  pota- 
toes, bread  and  meat. 

Yes,  I  would  go  back  to  the  poor  house  ; 
but  how  would  I  get  there?  It  was  miles 
away  and  I  did  not  know  the  way. 

Then  I  thought  I  will  go  back  to  Jennie's 
house  and  tell  her  I  am  hungry  and  ask  her 
to  give  me  something  to  eat ;  so  around 
through  the  back  streets  I  went,  crossing 
Pearl  street  bridge,  standing  a  moment  to  look 
at  the  river  and  wonder  if  it  would  be  very 
wrong  to  throw  myself  into  the  water — yes, 
mother  had  often  said,  God  will  take  us  to 
Himself  in  His  own  good  time,  and  I  knew  it 
would  be  a  sin. 

Perhaps  God  had  forgotten  me  for  a  time 
but  he  would  remember  me  in  his  own  good 
time,  as  mother  said. 


A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE.  45 


So  I  passed  on  and  went  to  Jennie's,  she 
gave  me  something  to  eat,  said  she  was  so  sorry 
for  me ;  she  was  going  to  Jackson  in  a  day 
or  two,  "  I  will'  take  you  with  me  "  she  said 
"we  will  get  a  place  to  work  in  a  hotel,  we 
will  never  part  with  each  other  ;  I  thought 
Charlie  Young  was  a  gentleman  and  would 
make  you  a  good  husband. 

I  told  her  I  had  on  Mrs.  Young's  dress 
and  wanted  to  take  it  back  to  her,  so  she  gave 
me  a  wrapper  of  hers  to  wear.  I  took  the 
dress  back  to  Mrs.  Young  and  told  her  I  was 
going  to  Jackson  to  find  a  place  to  work.  She 
said  "  that  is  the  best  thing  you  can  do. 
Charlie  has  such  a  temper  and  he  is  coming 
home.  You  know  you  tried  to  get  him  into 
trouble  when  you  went  to  Mr.  Burlingame, 
and  I  don't  know  what  he  will  do  if  he  finds 
you  here.  Go  away  and  never  come  back — 


46  A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE. 


I  should  think  you  had  had  enough  of  Grand 
Rapids." 

So  two  days  later  Jennie  Holden  and 
Georgie  Young  were  on  the  train  for  Jackson. 
I  had  on  the  wrapper  Jennie  had  loaned  me, 
a  little  plaid  shawl,  and  rubbers  over  my  shoes 
to  cover  the  holes  in  the  toes. 

We  arrived  in  Jackson  at  5  A.  M.,  Jennie 
taking  me  to  a  house  near  the  prison,  saying 
her  husband  lived  there.  I  knew  afterward 
this  man  was  not  her  husband. 

He  was  a  poor  half-witted  fellow  living 
with  his  mother.  He  had  met  Jennie  in 
Grand  Rapids  and  afterward  written  her  to 
come  to  Jackson  ;  that  she  could  do  well  there 
as  he  would  furnish  her  a  house.  I  know  not 
the  story  he  told  his  mother.  I  know  he  in- 
troduced her  as  his  wife  and  she  received  her 
as  if  she  had  been  expecting  her, 


A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE.  4? 


The  next  day  they  moved,  his  mother  giv- 
ing them  one  bed,  a  little  parlor  cook  stove, 
three  chairs,  a  table  and  some  tomato  pre- 
serves. They  pinned  papers  up  to  the 
windows  for  curtains  ;  they  made  me  a  bed  in 
the  corner,  and  for  a  week  we  lived  on  bakers' 
bread  and  tomato  preserves. 

Jennie  had  a  dress  to  make  and  went 
down  town  and  ordered  a  sewing  machine, 
saying  she  wanted  to  try  it  before  buying. 
The  firm  sent  the  machine  and  just  as  we 
were  nicely  started  on  the  dress  back  drove 
the  wagon  with  a  member  of  the  firm.  They 
took  the  machine  saying,  "  Did  you  think  you 
could  get  away  with  one  of  our  machines? 
You  are  not  intending  to  buy  a  machine  ;  you 
are  all  packed  up  ready  to  move ;  where  are 
your  curtains  and  furniture?"  Jennie  com- 
menced swearing  at  him  like  a  pirate.  I  had 


48  A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE. 


never  seen  her  act  and  talk  like  that  and   I 
was  afraid. 

Soon  after  an  officer  came  and  said  the 
man  who  owned  the  house  said  she  was  a  bad 
woman,  and  he  wanted  her  to  move  out.  He 
said  the  sewing-machine  man  was  a  friend  of 
the  landlord,  and  went  to  him  and  told  him  a 
couple  of  old  cats  were  living  in  his  house,  he 
had  seen  one  of  them  in  Grand  Rapids.  I 
said,  "What  cats  does  he  mean,  Jennie?  we 
have  no  cats."  She  answered  that  is  what 
they  call  bad  women,  sometimes.  He  must 
mean  you,  for  being  around  on  the  streets 
there,  he  would  riot  dare  call  me  a  bad  woman, 
for  I  am  married  and  living  with  my  husband. 
Then  she  went  on  to  say  :  "  If  we  only  had 
some  money  to  keep  us  till  we  could  find  work 
I  would  leave  my  husband,  for  he  will  not 
work." 


.-/  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE.  49 


"  I  know  a  woman  here  named  Vine  Leo- 
nard, she  will  let  us  come  there,  we  will  not 
have  to  stay  but  a  few  days  and  we  would 
have  $25  or  $30,  then  we  can  get  you  a  dress 
and  clothes  to  work  with."  I  said:  "Why 
Jennie,  I  never  saw  so  much  money  in  my 
life."  She  answered  :  "  Some  girls  make  that 
much  every  day."  "  What  do  they  work 
at  ?  "  I  asked.  "  Are  you  going  to  be  a  fool  all 
your  life,"  Jennie  exclaimed.  "Ask  Jim  when 
he  comes  home  to-night,  how  much  money 
you  could  make  in  a  day  if  you  went  to  Vine 
Leonard's."  I  did  so  when  he  came  home 
that  evening.  With  a  coarse  laugh  he  an- 
swered, "  If  you  take  you  might  make  $20." 
"Take/1  I  said,  "take  what?"  This  was  as 
simple  and  foolish  as  I  was. 

Sometimes  the  thought  came  to  me,  this 
woman  does  noyalk  and  act  like  your  mother, 


50  A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE. 

and  then  I  would  say  to  myself,  I  know,  but 
she  has  money  and  clothes  ;  and  then  mother 
had  such  queer  ideas  of  her  God,  she  said  He 
would  care  for  all,  and  still  mother  had  to  work 
so  hard ;  and  when  I  was  at  school  other  lit- 
tle girls  would  say,  "  Look  at  -  — ,  she  has 
one  of  my  dresses  on,  my  mamma  gave  it  to 
her  mamma  when  she  worked  at  our  house." 

I  thought  back  to  the  time  when  I  had 
gone  to  the  church  Christmas  time,  and  the 
tree  was  loaded  with  presents  for  every  one 
except  me.  I  thought  Santa  Claus  put  the 
presents  on  the  tree  for  every  good  little  girl, 
and  weeks  before  Christmas  I  had  prayed 
God  to  tell  Santa  Claus  I  was  a  poor  little 
girl  and  that  he  must  bring  something  nice. 

This  was  when  I  was  about  nine  years  old; 
Christmas  came ;  my  mother  went  to  a  Mrs. 
Bentley's  to  stay  with  her  baby  while  the  fanv 


A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE.  51 

ily  went  to  the  church.  I  had  been  waiting 
for  this  night  with  indescribable  desire  and 
longing.  Seated  with  the  class  to  which  I 
belonged,  I  waited,  thinking  every  doll  taken 
from  the  tree  was  the  one  Santa  Claus  had 
put  there  for  me.  The  loaded  tree  was  re- 
lieved of  its  weight  of  presents ;  each  little 
girl  in  the  class  had  her  arms  full — but  noth- 
ing for  me.  I  have  often  thought  of  that 
night — how  I  wished  myself  away.  The  girls 
would  say,  "  Haven't  you  anything? — look  at 
my  doll  and  picture-books  !"  I  choked  back 
the  tears  and  hard  rebellious  feeling  and 
started  out  of  the  church. 

Mrs.  Tuppen,  the  teacher,  said  to  me, 
"  Did  Santa  Claus  bring  you  anything  ?" 
"No  ma'am,"  I  answered.  "  Never  mind," 
she  answered,  "  I  will  send  you  something  to- 
morrow. "  But  what  did  I  want  of  to-morrow 


52  ./   MAGDALEN'S  LIFE. 


—I  had  prayed  to  God  every  night — I  had 
studied  hard  in  school,  and  God  had  told 
Santa  Claus  to  give  all  the  rest  of  the  girls 
something,  all  but  me,  so  when  mother  came 
home  she  found  me  crying  as  if  my  heart 
would  break. 

She  said,  "What  is  the  matter  with  my 
little  girl  ?"  I  cried  out  "  God  dosn't  love  us. 
He  makes  you  work  so  hard  every  day,  un- 
less you  are  sick,  and  we  have  to  wear  other 
children's  clothes,  and  they  make  fun  of  us  at 
school,  and  to-day  he  told  Santa  Claus  not  to 
put  anything  on  the  Christmas  tree  for  me."  . 

I  never  complained  to  my  mother  again. 
She  took  my  hand  in  hers  and  knelt  down  and 
prayed  to  God,  the  tears  streaming  from  her 
eyes,  to  bless  her  child,  to  take  all  bitterness 
from  her  heart,  and  lead  her  in  the  paths  in 
which  she  should  go,  until  He  was  ready  to 


A  MAGDALEN'S  I.fJ'E.  53 


call  her  home.  Then  she  explained  to  me 
there  was  no  such  person  as  Santa  Claus ; 
that  only  parents  and  friends  bought  presents 
and  put  them  on  the  tree  and  that  she  had  no 
money  to  buy  any. 


A  MAG D ALEX'S  LIFE. 


CHAPTER  V. 


Not  a  doubt  of  there  being  a  God  came  in 
my  mind,  but  I  thought  he  forgot  some  of  his 
children,  for  had  he  not  forgotten  me  in  Grand 
Rapids  ? 

The  preserves  and  bread  gave  out  and 
Jennie  said  "  We  must  do  something  ;  my  hus- 
band won't  work  and  support  us  both,  and  I 
won't  leave  you.  I  will  pack  my  trunk  and 
we  will  go  on  that  to  Kalamazoo,  and  find 
work  there. 

We  started  for  Kalamazoo  and  when  the 
conductor  asked  for  our  tickets  Jennie  gave 
him  the  check  to  her  trunk,  saying  we  wanted 
to  go  on  that  to  Kalamazoo.  He  came  back 


56  A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE. 

soon,  saying  "  the  trunk  is  light  as  a  feather — 
you  must  get  off  the  train  at  the  next  station. 
I  do  not  remember  the  name  of  the  station." 

We  went  to  a  hotel  near  the  depot.  The 
clerk  gave  us  a  room  and  built  a  fire  for  us; 
then  Jennie  went  out  in  the  hall  and  talked 
with  him  a  few  minutes.  After  the  house  was 
closed  he  came  to  the  door  and  called  her 
out ;  they  locked  the  door  on  the  outside  and 
I  was  left  alone.  I  was  afraid.  I  did  not 
move  from  before  the  fire  for  hours  ;  then  the 
door  was  carefully  unlocked  and  Jennie  came 
in.  I  was  so  glad  to  see  her — I  thought  she 
had  left  me.  I  promised  never  to  cry  like  that 
again.  She  said  he  was  an  old  friend  of  hers 
and  had  loaned  her  money  to  go  to  Kalama- 
zoo.  So  we  went  to  bed,  I  thinking  how 
good  she  was  not  to  leave  me. 

The  next  morning  we  started    again  for 


A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE.  57 

Kalamazooj  Jennie  paid  the  fare.  After  hav- 
ing dinner  at  the  City  Hotel  Jennie  took  me 
into  the  sitting-room  and  said  to  me  :  '  "  We 
can  not  get  work  ;  you  have  no  clothes  ;  I  am 
going  to  board,  if  you  want  to  come,  all  right ; 
if  not  I  am  going  alone  and  you  will  have  to 
do  the  best  you  can."  I  begged  her  not  to 
leave  me.  "  Well,  come  on  then,"  she  said  ; 
"stop  crying  like  a  baby — be  a  thorough- 
bred !' '  So  we  went  down  on  a  back  street, 
(I  learned  afterward  people  called  it  "The 
Dock" — this  is  the  name  by  which  it  is  known 
to  this  day). 

She  took  me  to  a  house  kept  by  Alice 
Burl ;  as  is  the  custom  of  these  houses,  the 
house-keeper  came  to  answer  the  bell ;  we 
were  shown  into  the  parlor  ;  Jennie  asked  to 
see  the  landlady.  As  the  house-keeper  left 
the  room  I  said  "  What  is  a  landlady  ?"  It 


58  A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE. 

was  the  first  time  I  had  ever  heard  the  ex- 
pression. "  Keep  still  "  said  Jennie.  Just 
then  Miss  Alice,  as  Jennie  called  her,  came  in. 
She  had  on  a  long  white  wrapper  and  no 
sleeves.  I  opened  my  eyes  at  this  for  I  was 
cold  with  the  plaid  shawl  I  had  on.  She 
asked  "  Do  you  want  to  get  board  ?"  Jennie 
answered  "  Yes  ;"  then  she  told  her  we  were 
from  Grand  Rapids,  her  trunk  was  at  the 
depot. 

Miss  Alice  asked  how  old  I  was.  I  told 
her  fifteen.  "Won't  your  folks  raise  a  racket 
when  they  find  you  are  boarding  ?"  I  asked 
why,  and  then  they  both  laughed.  Miss  Alice 
then  said  "  You  girls  must  be  tired  so  you 
need  not  come  into  the  parlor  till  to-morrow 
evening." 

She  took  me  up  stairs  into  what  seemed 
to  me  a  lovely  room.  Jennie  made  herself  at 


A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE.  59 

home  at  once,  but  I  kept  thinking  of  that 
white  dress  and  no  sleeves.  I  said  to  Jennie 
"What  a  funny  looking  woman,  with  no 
sleeves  in  her  dress."  Jennie  went  out  of  the 
room  and,  will  you  believe  me,  I  knelt  down 
by  that  bed  and  thanked  God  for  sending  us 
to  such  a  nice  place.  I  did  not  have  the 
slightest  idea  of  the  nature  of  the  house.  Re- 
member, I  had  never  heard  of  such  things. 

Ten  years  later  I  asked  Jennie  if  she  knew 
how  ignorant  I  was  and  why  she  did  not  ex- 
plain to  me.  She  answered  "  Georgie,  you 
were  such  a  big  fool  in  those  days  ;  it  was  fun 
to  hear  you  talk  and  see  you  look."  Sin- 
stained  as  I  was  now,  in  my  heart  I  thanked 
God  that  the  foolishness  she  spoke  of  was  the 
foolishness  of  innocence. 

That  night  we  were  awakened  by  the 
ringing  of  the  door-bell,  and  soon  a  voice  in 


60  A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE. 

the  hall  calling,  "  Come,  girls  ;  gentlemen  are 
in  the  parlor."  "What's  that,  Jennie?" 
"  Keep  still ;  we  don't  have  to  get  up."  Jen- 
nie went  to  sleep,  but  as  long  as  I  could  hear 
a  sound  I  was  too  frightened  to  close  my. 
eyes  ;  finally  the  sounds  were  hushed  and  all 
was  silent,  but  not  until  daylight  came  creep- 
ing in  through  the  closed  blinds. 

I  tried  to  sleep,  but  thoughts  of  mother 
came  to  me  and  made  me  heart-sick.  I  heard 
a  clock  strike  hour  after  hour,  until  nine 
o'clock.  I  wondered  why  Jennie  did  not  wake 
up.  I  knew  if  I  disturbed  her  she  would  be 
angry,  so  I  laid  quite  still  until  the  clock  struck 
ten,  then  I  thought,  what  can  have  happened, 
perhaps  robbers  had  broken  in  and  murdered 
Miss  Alice  and  all  the  borders  ;  so  I  shook 
-Jennie  and  called  her  to  wake  up.  I  believed 
every  one  in  the  house  was  dead.  "  After 


A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE.  61 

you  went  to  sleep  I  heard  men  breaking  in  the 
doors,  and  it  is  after  ten  o'clock — everybody 
must  be  ^ead."  She  answered,  "You  make 
me  sick,  they  don't  have  breakfast  here  till 
twelve  o'clock."  Soon  after  we  dressed  and 
went  down  stairs.  The  landlady  was  not  up 
but  the  borders  were  down  ready  for  break- 
fast. 

Jennie  asked  for  Miss  Alice.  One  of  the 
girls  said:  "  Oh  she  had  too  much  wine,  she  is 
laid  out  this  morning — some  traveling  men 
were  here  from  Detroit."  After  breakfast  the 
girls  cut  a  pack  of  cards  to  see  who  would 
buy  the  cigars  ;  they  smoked  just  like  men. 
I  coughed  and  choked  and  could  hardly  get 
my  breath — a  little  close  room  and  five  cigars, 
for  Jennie  smoked  too.  They  laughed  at  me 
and  said  to  Jennie :  "  Where  did  you  pick  that 
up  ?  "  She  replied,  "  In  Grand  Rapids,  she 


A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE. 


isn't  broke  in  yet"  I  could  see  she  was 
ashamed  of  me.  One  of  them,  a  little  black- 
eyed  girl,  said, "Don't  give  her  a  racket,  girls, 

she  is  a  ,  we  have  all  been  there." 

Another  said •  "I  heard  her  praying  last 
night — this  is  a  dandy  place  to  pray  in."  Then 
the  little  black-eyed  girl  said :  "  Don't  talk 
like  that,  girls,  she  is  in  hard  luck — I  used  to 
pray  myself — I  had  a  good  mother,  and  if  she 
had  lived  I  would  not  be  here." 

Hope  sprang  up  within  me.  This  giri 
would  befriend  me  and  tell  me  why  they  ail 
laughed  at  me,  and  talked  and  smoked  like 
men.  So  I  waited  until  I  could  speak  to  her 
alone,  and  then  asked  her  to  talk  to  me  and 
tell  me  what  to  do. 

She  took  me  in  her  room  and  locked  the 
door,  then  asked  me  why  I  came  there.  I 
told  her  all  that  had  happened  to  me  and  that 


A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE,  63 

I  did  not  know  what  to  do.  She  said :  "  I 
wish  I  could  help  you,  but  you  must  not  stay 
here,  this  is  a  bad  house  and  we  are  all  bad 
girls."  Then  she  explained  to  me  the  nature 
of  the  house,  half  of  which  I  could  not  under- 
stand. 

My  thoughts  went  back  .to  the  words  of 
Mrs.  Haynes :  "Bad  girls  soon  die."  I  said 
to  her :  "I  should  think  you  would  be  afraid 
you  would  die."  She  answered:  "Oh,  I 
only  wish  I  could  die,  one  can  not  always  die" 
Then  after  thinking  a  few  minutes  she  said, 
"  I  know  a  woman  who  used  to  keep  a  house, 
now  some  of  the  girls  from  the  other  houses 
on  the  dock  take  their  meals  with  her,  I  will 
go  and  see  if  she  will  not  let  you  come  there 
to  work.  I  wish  I  knew  of  a  better  place,  but 
you  see  I  am  so  bad  myself,  I  know  of  no 
one  else.  You  must  not  tell  any  one,  for  I 


64  A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE. 

will  get  into  trouble  with  Miss  Alice  if  she 
knows  I  tried  to  get  you  this  place.  You  are 
not  good  looking,  but  she  would  curl  your  hair, 
buy  you  some  slippers  and  a  pretty  dress. 
You  are  young  looking  and  that  is  what  the 
gentlemen  want." 

I  promised  not  to  say  a  word,  and  that 
afternoon  she  went  to  see  the  woman,  Mrs. 
Rand,  and  secured  the  place  for  me.  Mrs. 
Rand  said  she  could  not  afford  to  pay  me, 
but  I  could  come  and  work  for  my  board. 
That  night  we  stole  out  of  the  house ;  Eva 
took  me  by  the  hand  and  ran  all  the  way  with 
me,  so  she  would  not  be  missed  from  the 
house,  stopping  long  enough  to  say  to  me, 
"Remember,  never  tell  I  told  you  where  to 
go,  Miss  Alice  comes  here  sometimes." 

I  looked  after  her  as  she  ran  back,  with 
tears  in  my  eyes,  for  had  she  not  helped  me 


A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE,  65 


get  a  place  to  work ;  not  much  of  a  place,  as 
I  soon  found  out,  but  "  she  had  done  what 
she  could."  Years  after,  when  remorse  and 
thoughts  of  her  mother,  now  lost  to  her  for- 
ever, had  driven  her  down,  down  to  the  lowest 
depths,  when  the  young,  red-cheeked,  black- 
eyed  girl  of  seventeen,  as  I  first  saw  her,  had 
become  the  outcast  of  the  lowest  dives,  drink- 
ing, smoking  a  pipe,  taking  opium  when  she 
had  money  to  buy  it,  she  was  picked  up  by 
the  police  in  Grand  Rapids. 

The  morning  papers  told  of  a  "degraded 
specimen  of  humanity "  that  had  been  picked 
up  that  night,  and  would  have  her  trial  the 
next  morning. 

It  was  Eva  Bell.  I  paid  her  fine  and  had 
her  taken  to  the  U.  B.  A.  Home,  where  I  paid 
her  board  and  doctor's  bill.  We  Jboth  knew 
she  was  dying.  Once  before  she  died  she 


66  A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE. 

asked  me  to  bring  my  mother's  bible  and  read 
to  her  and  pray  for  her,  which  I  did  as  well  as 
I  could. 

Afterward,  when  I  looked  at  her  dead  dis- 
figured face,  I  repeated  the  words  she  said  to 
me  so  long  ago:  " I  wish  I  could  do  more  for 
you." 

The  papers  called  my  act  charitable,  but 
how  little  it  was  compared  with  what  she  tried 
years  before  to  do  for  me.  I  clothed  and 
buried  her  body  with  the  wages  of  sin  ;  she 
tried  to  save  my  soul. 


A  MAGDALEN  S  LIFE.  87 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Mrs.  Rand  had  quit  keeping  house  from 
lack  of  support.  She  asked  me  if  I  had  any 
clothes.  On  my  telling  her  I  had  none  she  gave 
me  some  to  work  in.  The  next  day,  Jennie, 
having  heard  from  one  of  the  girls  who  took 
her  meals  there  where  I  was,  came  after  her 
wrapper  and  shawl,  saying  I  was  too  ungrate- 
ful to  have  friends — never  to  speak  to  her 
again.  Mrs.  Rand  kept  a  class  of  boarders 
from  the  lower  houses,  yet  she  was  apparently 
respectable  (that  was  saying  but  little  for  her 
in  that  neighborhood). 


88  A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE. 

She  had  a  trunk  of  clothes  which  had  be- 
longed to  a  girl  who  had  poisoned  herself,  and 
for  whom  she  had  cared  and  helped  to  bury. 
She  asked  me  if  I  would  be  afraid  to  wear  the 
clothes ;  I  said  no,  I  was  more  afraid  of  not 
having  anything  to  wear.  So  she  took  the 
things  out  of  the  trunk,  hats,  shoes  and  dresses. 
She  had  me  try  them  all  on,  and  I  thought  what 
a  good  woman  she  must  be  to  give  me  these 
clothes.  After  a  day  or  two  I  said  to  her, 
"  didn't  those  clothes  fit  me  good,"  she  an- 
swered yes,  I  wish  I  could  sell  them  to  you, 
you  need  clothing  so  badly,  and  they  are  all 
made  and  so  cheap.  My  heart  bounded  at 
the  thought  of  having  a  trunk  all  to  myself, 
but  how  could  I  pay  for  them.  She  said  you 
are  very  foolish  not  to  get  a  good  place  "to 
board  and  get  you  something  to  wear.  She 
gave  me  what  she  called  a  little  good  sound 


A   MAGDALEN'S  LIFE.  (5U 

advice.  She  said:  "  You  cannot  cook,  you 
have  nothing  to  wear ;  I  feel-  sorry  for  you  ; 
of  course  I  will  let  you  stay  here,  but  you  need 
money.  I  know  of  a  nice  place  for  you  to 
board  where  the  woman  would  be  as  good  to 
you  as  if  you  were  her  own  child.  I  will  see 
her  for  you  if  you  will  go,  and  get  her  to  buy 
this  trunk  and  clothes,  then  you  can  pay  for  it 
as  you  can,"  with  these  words  she  sent  me  to 
bed. 

I  was  weak  with  the  thought  of  how 
friendless  I  was.  What  if  this  woman  should 
turn  me  out  upon  the  street  and  take  her  dress 
from  me,  what  would  I  do  ?  As  Eva  had 
said,  "  one  can  not  always  die."  If  death  had 
been  offered  me,  young  as  I  was,  I  would  not 
have  hesitated  a  moment,  but  I  thought  to 
kill  one's  self  is  a  sin,  that  I  know,  but  the 
other  sin,  though  my  soul  revolted  at  the 


70  A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE 

thought,  I  had  never  been  told  in  words 
(remember)  what  a  terrible  sin  it  was. 

Mrs.  Haynes  had  said  bad  girls  did  not 
live  long,  and  Eva  had  said  we  are  all  bad 
girls  here,  this  was  all  the  light  I  had  on  the 
subject.  I  argued — think  of  it — argued  with 
myself  about  it.  I  thought  of  all  I  had  passed 
through,  the  condition  I  was  in,  and  then  said 
to  myself,  "Why  not?"  all  has  happened  to 
me  that  can,  if  I  die,  so  much  the  better. 

I  can  never  see  mother  again,  I  am  so  far 
away.  I  was  dazed.  If  any  one  had  told  me 
I  was  ten  thousand  miles  from  mother  I  would 
have  believed  them.  What  was  the  difference, 
ten  thousand  or  fifty,  I  would  never  see  her.  I 
could  find  no  place  to  work ;  no  one  wanted  me; 
every  one  was  so  different  from  mother. 

Yes,  it  must  be  this  woman  knew  best ; 
then  what  could  I  do  if  she  turned  me  out, 
what  would  become  of  me? 


A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE.  71 

So  the  next  day  I  was  at  Mrs.  Thomp- 
son's with  the  dead  girl's  trunk  of  clothes. 
My  name  was  placed  on  the  housekeeper's 
book — opposite  my  name  was  a  debt  of  $40, 
due  Mrs.  Rand — trunk  and  clothes  to  be  held 
until  all  was  paid. 

And,  now,  I  will  touch  as  lightly  as  possi- 
ble on  events  (as  I  have  no  desire  to  make 
this  book  sensational).  I  realize  how  delicate 
the  subject  is  to  handle,  and  how  incompetent 
I  am  to  write  upon  it,  yet  I  hope  I  will  be  able 
to  write  so  that  no  one  need  take  offense. 
Little  or  nothing  has  ever  been  brought  to 
light  concerning  this  life  ;  many  girls  are  led 
into  it  blindly — few  by  choice.  Christian 
people  refuse  to  listen,  simply,  and  become 
acquainted  with  facts,  while  young  girls  in 
every  city  are  ignorantly  walking  on  to  the 
life  they  will  lead  till  they  are  lost  in  this  world 
and  in  the  world  to  come. 


A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE.  12 

Has  society  held  out  the  same  hope  to 
them  it  has  to  the  drunkard,  the  gambler,  the 
murderer — that  their  souls  could  be  saved  ? 
No,  it  has  not.  The  years  go  by,  remorse 
and  sin  do  their  work,  and  no  prayer  has  been 
said  over  our  dead  ;  we  have  lowered  them 
into  the  grave  with  our  own  hands.  Who 
made  this  law — that  our  sin  was  so  much 
greater  than  any  other;  that  there  was  not 
even  hope  for  the  soul  ? 

Did  you  ever  hear  of  a  beath-bed  scene, 
where  a  fallen  woman  has  been  prayed  with 
and  expressed  forgiveness,  and  believed  siie 
was  forgiven  ?  Still  the  murderer  walks  to 
the  gallows,  singing  and  praying,  saying  he  is 
happy.  The  papers  tell  how  the  priests 
labored  night  and  day  with  this  man,  and 
were  so  happy  that  at  the  last  moment  he  had 
repented,  and  been  saved.  But  the  "women  of 
the  town"  die  and  are  buried  without  a  hope. 


A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE.  73 

Society  has  made  this  law  against  us.  A 
short  time  ago  a  woman  died  in  this  city  who 
had  given  large  sums  of  money  to  the  Little 
Sisters  of  the  Poor  to  help  support  their 
Home  for  the  Aged.  She  had  also  bought  a 
lot  in  the  Catholic  cemetery,  but  when  she 
died  this  church  refused  her'  burial  in  conse- 
crated ground.  I  do  not  believe  consecrated 
ground  would  save  that  woman's  soul — but 
think  of  the  attitude  of  society?  It  refused 
her  burial  in  a  lot  her  money  had  paid  for,  yet 
would  accept  large  sums  of  her  sin-stained 
money  to  build  their  Home  and  Church. 


A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE.  75 


CHAPTER  VII. 


That  night  at  Mrs.  Thompson's,  a  crowd 
of  the  vilest-looking  men  came  in.  I  was  too 
frightened  then  to  judge,  but  never  since  have 
I  seen  such  looking  faces.  Mrs.  Thompson 
was  called  "mother"  by  the  girls,  so  you  can 
see  how  low  she  had  fallen,  when  she  would 
let  the  poor  girls  call  her  by  that  sacred  name. 
The  men  also  called  her  mother.  And  I 
learned  afterward  that  the  public  called  her 
"Old  Mother  Thompson." 

She  said  to  me  :  "  My  dear,  make  your- 
self at  home  with  the  gentlemen  ;  don't  be 
afraid."  They  smoked  and  drank  whisky,  the 


76  A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE. 

girls  drinking  with  them.  Then  one  man 
said,  "let's  have  some  music."  Then  another 
called  out,  "Yes,  give  us  a  song,  girls. 
Mother,  make  the  girls  sing.  Where  are  you, 
Mother ;  come  and  make  the  girls  sing." 

Mrs.  Thompson  came  in  and  said,  "  Ma- 
mie, dear,  sing  for  the  gentlemen."  Mamie 
was  known  as  "  The  White  Fawn."  She 
was  a  tall  blonde.  When  I  had  had  more 
experience,  I  found  that  her  habits  of  intem- 
perance had  barred  her  from  the  better  classes 
of  houses  of  ill-fame. 

Mamie  had  a  good  voice  and  sang  song 
after  song,  the  men  giving  her  drinks  and 
money  "for  luck,"  as  they  called  it.  After 
each  song  she  said,  "This  is  the  last  I  will 
sing  for  you."  Finally  she  said,  "  I  am  going 
to  Elkhart,  Indiana,  to-morrow  ;  a  friend  of 
mine  is  going  to  keep  me." 


A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE.  77 

I  kept  out  of  sight  as  much  as  possible. 
When  at  last  the  room  was  cleared  of  half  its 
occupants,  a  half-drunken  man  espied  me. 
He  said,  "Who  is  this,  Mamie?  Come  out 
of  that  corner  and  take  a  drink."  Taking-  the 
bottle  of  whisky  from  his  pocket  he  started 
toward  me.  I  ran  to  Mamie,  crying,  "  Don't 
let  him  touch  me."  She  protected  me,  saying 
to  him,  "  Don't  make  her  drink,  she  is  a  new 
girl ;  she  hasn't  good  sense  yet."  Then  to 
me,  ' '  I  believe  you  are  sick  ;  go  in  my  room 
and  lie  down,  if  you  want  to."  So  she  took 
me  in  her  room.  She  said,  "  You  will  have 
this  room  after  I  am  gone,  so  don't  cry.  Lie 
down  and  when  the  house  closes  I  will  come ; 
you  can  lock  the  door  if  you  want  to." 

I  had  hardly  turned  the  key  when  the 
house  shook,  and  I  could  hear  people  running 
about,  then  a  man's  voice,  saying  :  "  She  stole 


78  A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE. 

a  dollar  from  me ;  I  will  knock  her  head  off  if 
I  don't  get  my  money  back."  I  could  hear  a 
girl  crying-  (for  by  this  time  they  were  all  in 
the  sitting  room)  and  swearing,  and  telling 
Mrs.  Thompson,  who  had  come  in  to  .see 
what  the  trouble  was,  that  she  did  not  take  a 
cent  of  the  man's  money  ;  that  he  slapped  her 
in  the  face  and  dragged  her  around  the  room 
by  the  hair.  He  insisted  she  did  take  the 
money,  and  said :  "  Mother,  I  don't  want  to 
raise  a  racket  in  your  house,  but  this  thing 
has  robbed  me,  and  I  want  my  money." 

It  was  all  finally  quieted  down,  Mrs.  T 

saying,  "You  know,  Bob,  you  have  always 
been  used  like  a  gentleman  in  my  house,  and 
now  you  come  here  and  get  the  girls  drunk 
and  get  to  fighting,  and  try  to  get  me  into 
trouble.  I  did  not  think  this  of  you  ;  there  is 


A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE  79 

a  '  cop '  outside,  and  the  house  will  he  pulled 
if  there  is  any  more  noise."  So  Bob  said  he 
didn't  care  for  the  dollar,  but  he  wanted  them 
to  know  he  was  no  "spring  chicken;"  he 
didn't  want  to  get  the  house  in  trouble,  as  she 
had  always  used  him  right. 

Then  the  men  went  away,  and  the  house 
was  closed.  As  soon  as  Mamie  came  to  the 
door  I  turned  the  key,  for  I  was  sitting  close 
by  the  door,  frightened  almost  to  death.  I 
asked  her  if  the  man  almost  killed  the  girl  ? 
She  laughed,  and  said,  "  No,  the  girl  is  all 
right ;  she  took  the  money ;  that  is  the  way 
to  do ;  steal  every  cent  you  can  from  a  man  ; 
Mother  knows  how  to  fix  things  ;  the  girl 
never  gets  the  worst  of  it." 

It's  a  tough  place  here,  tho'  ;  what  made 
you  come  here  ;  you  don't  drink,  and  you  are 
young.  You  ought  to  be  in  a  first-class 


80  A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE. 

house,  but  not  here.  Girls  get  drunk  here 
every  day.  I  can't  keep  from  drinking ;  it's 
o-ot  the  best  of  me.  If  I  could  I  would  be  in 

o 

a  better  house. 

"  I  am  going  to  Elkhart,  to-morrow  ;  if  I 
had  any  money  I  would  take  you  with  me.  I 
know  of  a  good  place  to  board  there,  and  the 
landlady  wants  a  girl.  This  friend  of  mine 
keeps  a  grocery,  and  has  rooms  over  the 
store.  If  you  only  had  some  money." 

"But,"  I  said,  "even  the  clothes  I  have  on 
are  not  mine."  Then  I  thought  of  the  clerk  at 
the  City  Hotel;  he  had  told  me  if  ever  he  could 
befriend  me  he  would  ;  perhaps  he  would  give 
me  the  money.  Mamie  then  said:  "They 
beat  you  in  selling  you  those  clothes.  They 
are  not  worth  $10.  Keep  what  you  have  on  ; 
you  worked  hard  enough  to  pay  for  them. 
She  never  did  anything  for  that  girl  they  be- 


A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE.  81 

longed  to.  The  rest  all  threw  in  to  buy  her 
a  coffin."  I  thought  a  few  minutes,  then  said  : 
"  Don't  you  think  I  could  get  a  place  to  work 
in  Elkhart  ? "  "I  don't  know,"  she  answered  ; 
"perhaps  Miss  Rett  would  let  you  work  for 
her.  You  could  not  get  a  decent  place  after 
being  in  a  sporting  house." 

I  told  her  that  I  thought  the  clerk  at  the 
City  Hotel  would  give  me  a  ticket,  so  we 
planned  that  I  should  go  and  ask  him  for 
the  ticket,  and  then  wait  at  the  depot  for  her. 
At  last  she  came,  saying,  "  Mother  almost  had 
a  fit  when  you  did  not  show  up ;  but  she  will 
not  lose  anything ;  she  will  send  the  trunk 
and  clothes  back."  I  was  only  too  glad  to 
get  out  of  Kalamazoo. 

Mamie's  friend  did  not  meet  her,  as  she 
expected.  The  disappointment  made  her 
want  to  drink.  I  begged  her  not  to,  but  she 


82  A  MAGD ALEX'S  LIFE. 

said,  "  Oh,  you  don't  know  how  terrible  it  is. 
You  would  drink  if  you  had  the  blues  as  I 
have." 

There  were  no  hacks ;  the  depot  was 
closed  after  this  last  train.  The  street  lamps 
were  out,  the  stores  all  closed.  We  went 
down  the  street  to  her  friend's  store.  She 
rapped  at  the  door.  After  a  moment  or  two 
a  voice  said,  "What's  wanted?"  She  said, 
"  Let  me  in." 

He  soon  came  and  opened  the  door.  She 
went  in,  saying  to  me,  "  Come  in."  He 
looked  displeased  to  see  me.  She  began  to 
upbraid  him  for  not  meeting  her  at  the  train. 
He  answered,  "  Do  you  think  I  want  to  go  to 
the  depot  to  meet  you  —  well-known  as  you 
are  here  ?  I  supposed  you  would  go  over  to 
Rett's  and  stay  till  I  could  see  you."  Turning 
down  the  light  he  told  her  to  come  up  stairs, 


A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE.  83 

and  she  told  me  to  wait ;  she  would  go  and 
see  what  he  had  to  say,  and  then  come  and 
take  me  to  Miss  Rett's,  as  I  could  not  go 
alone  it  was  such  a  rough  place,  unless  one 
knows  just  where  they  are  going — so  many 
railroad  men  and  no  officers.  I  sat  down  on 
a  box,  and  she  followed  him  down  the  store. 
As  I  sat  there  alone  I  tried  to  think  it  out : 
What  had  I  done  to  be  in  such  a  condition  ? 
I  thought  first  of  the  lie  I  had  told,  then  of 
the  jail  and  poor-house.  When  I  thought  of 
the  clothes  I  had  on,  I  said  to  myself:  "  I 
stole  these  clothes ;  she  did  not  give  them  to 
me.  I  must  have  stolen  them.  Mrs.  Rand 
never  promised  me  anything  except  my  board. 
Yes,  I  stole  them.  I  was  everything  bad,"  I 
said  to  myself.  Mrs.  Haynes  said  bad  girls 
did  not  live  long.  So  I  prayed  once  more  — 
the  last  time  for  months.  I  prayed  God — not 


S4  A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE. 

to  let  me  see  my  mother  once  more,  with  all 
the.  sin  I  had  committed,  but  to  "let  me  die." 
There  was  a  big  dog  chained  in  the  corner  ; 
he  had  liad  his  supper  or  he  would  not  have 
lain  so  quietly  after  his  master  had  gone  out 
of  the  store,  but  /  had  had  no  supper.  I  was 
faint  with  hunger.  I  could  smell  bread,  and 
not  far  from  the  box,  on  which  I  was  sitting 
was  a  barrel  of  crackers.  I  knew  crackers 
were  in  the  barrel,  for  my  hungry  eyes  had 
discerned  them  as  Mamie  and  her  friend  were 
talking.  I  thought  if  I  only  had  some,  but 
that  would  be  stealing.  Then  I  laughed; 
stealing?  Had  I  not  stolen  all  the  clothes  I 
had  on  ?  But  this  was  the  first  conscious 
theft.  Then  I  looked  all  around,  and  whis- 
pered to  the  dog,  that  had  opened  his  eyes  : 
"  I  am  hungry ;  I  am  hungry ;"  then  I 


A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE.  85 

laughed  again.  The  dog  could  not  under- 
stand ;  he  was  not  hungry. 

No,  I  said  to  myself,  God  has  provided  for 
him.  He  feeds  the  birds,  mother  used  to  tell 
us,  but  He  has  forgotten  me.  1  am  hungry. 
What  do  I  care,  suppose  some  one  does  find 
me  stealing  crackers,  and  put  me  in  jail.  I 
will  not  feel  these  pangs  of  hunger,  so  I  took 
off  my  shoes  and  crept  carefully  up  to  the 
barrel,  put  my  hand  in,  took  one  out,  stuffed 
it  in  my  mouth,  and  got  back  to  the  box 
and  put  my  shoes  on  as  quickly  as  I  could.  I 
waited  a  few  minutes,  nothing  happened,  off 
came  my  shoes,  and  this  time  I  filled  my  hat 
full.  I  had  had  nothing  to  eat  since  morning, 
and  it  was  now  long  past  midnight. 

Did  you  ever  steal  anything  to  eat  ?  If 
you  have,  you  know  just  the  feelings  I  had  as 
I  stuffed  cracker  after  cracker  into  my  mouth, 


86  A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE. 

and  choked  them  down  with  no  water,  until  I 
could  hardly  breathe. 

After  I  had  eaten  all  I  could  out  of  my  hat 
I  took  what  remained  and  hid  them  around  in 
the  lining  of  my  hat,  for,  I  said  to  myself,  I 
stole  them.  I  am  a  thief,  anyway  ;  what  use 
to  put  any  back  ;  I  stole  the  hat  full? 

That  theft  was  my  first  conscious  sin.  I 
was  so  horrified  at  what  I  had  done,  after  my 
hunger  was  appeased,  that  I  stood  in  my  own 
estimation  as  wicked  as  it  was  possible  to  be. 
I  was  not  the  pure  girl  in  thought  that  was 
taken  to  jail  in  Grand  Rapids.  I  was  a  thief. 


A  MAGDALEN* S  LIFE. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


The  next  morning  Mamie  came  down 
stairs,  saying,  "  My  head  is  as  big  as  a  tub.  I 
drank  too  much  whisky  last  night,  but  I  was 
mad  to  think  he  would  send  for  me  and  then 
not  meet  me.  Come,  we  will  go  over  to 
Rett's.  I  was  glad  to  get  out,  for  I  thought 
any  one  can  tell  a  thief,  and  if  he  looks  at  me 
he  will  know  I  stole  the  crackers. 

We  went  way  outside  the  city  where  there 
were  no  sidewalks.  Elkhart  was  a  small  town, 
and  although  on  account  of  being  a  railroad 


88  A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE. 


center,  this  house  was  allowed  there ;  still  they 
would  not  tolerate  it  down  town.  No  one  was 
up  in  the  house,  and  Mamie  went  to  one  of 
the  windows,  calling  to  Rett  to  let  her  in  ;  a 
window  was  opened,  and  then  the  door ;  we 
went  in.  Mamie  asked  her  for  board.  The 
woman  said,  I  have  room  for  you.  I  looked 
at  Mamie.  She  said,  my  friend  wants  me  to 
stay  here  a  week  or  two  and  then  he  will  keep 
me.  Rett  said,  Irish  Ann  is  living  up  the 
railroad  track,  perhaps  she  would  take  her  in. 
So  Mamie  said,  I  will  take  her  up  there  and 
and  be  back  in  time  for  breakfast. 

We  went  about  a  mile  up  the  track  to  a 
little  house  with  three  rooms.  "  Irish  Ann," 
as  they  called  her,  said  the  boys  would  raise 
a  racket  with  her  unless  she  got  a  girl  they 
liked  the  looks  of ;  one  that  did  not  get  mad 
if  they  tried  to  have  a  little  fun  ;  one  that 


A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE.  89 

could  be  one  of  the  "gang."  Mamie  wanted 
.me  to  get  a  place  here,  so  she  said,  "  Oh,  she 
has  been  in  Grand  Rapids."  I  thought  of  the 
"gang"  I  had  seen  on  the  "dock"  in  Kala- 
mazoo,  and  I  thought  to  myself  here  is  where 
I  am  to  get  killed. 

She  had  been  to  breakfast,  and  did  not 
ask  me  if  I  had,  so  I  waited  until  I  could 
make  an  excuse  to  go  outside.  Then  I  ate 
the  crackers  I  had  in  my  hat,  for  we  had  had 
a  long  walk,  and  I  was  hungry.  No  one 
came  near  the  house  that  night. 

The  next  day  Irish  Ann  said,  "  I  guess  I 
will  take  you  down  town,  so  that  the  boys 
can  see  you,  and  then  some  of  them  will  be 
up  to-night."  So  we  walked  through  the  main 
street  of  the  town  several  times,,  and  then 
back  to  her  house. 

That    night   about   fifteen    railroad   men 


90  A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE. 


came  to  the  house  to  have  some  fun,  they 
said.  They  kicked  the  stove  over  and  broke  the 
windows.  I  ran  out  of  the  house  and  down 
the  track  as  fast  as  I  could,  \\  ithout  any  hat 
on  my  head,  or  anything  around  me. 

I  met  two  men  who  were  Deputy  Mar- 
shals. They  stopped  me,  and  asked  what  I 
was  running  for  ?  I  told  them,  and  they  said, 
"We  were  coming  out  to  'Ann's.'  We  under- 
stood the  boys  were  going  to  break  the  house 
up."  They  took  me  back  with  them.  As  we 
neared  the  house  one  of  the  men  said,  "What 
will  we  do,  Tom?  The  man  answering  to 
the  name  of  "  Tom,"  said,  "  Let  them  give  it 
to  her ;  she  had  one  chance  to  leave  town  ; 
she  knows  the  boys  are  all  down  on  her." 

Just  then  the  gang  commenced  leaving 
the  house,  and  the  officers  went  up  on  the 
bank,  on  one  side  of  the  house.  As  the  men, 


A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE.  91 


who  had  broken  every  window  in  the  house, 
passed  the  officers,  one  of  them  said,  "  Hello, 
Gibbons."  Then  "Tom  Gibbons"  and  his 
deputy  went  into  the  house,  finding  every- 
thing' broken  up,  and  "  Irish  Ann  "  crying  and 
saying  over  to  herself,  "  I  will  send  every  one 
of  you  to  State  Prison."  One  of  the  officers 
said,  "What's  the  trouble  now,  Ann?"  She 
cried  out,  "  Frank  Rollins  and  his  gang  have 
been  raising  —  -  with  me,  and  broke  up  all 
my  furniture."  He  said,  "Well,  I  guess  we 
will  have  to  take  care  of  you  to-night ;  come, 
get  on  your  things  and  come  with  us."  She 
said  "  I  will  not  go,  and  I  will  squeal  o"> 
you,  Tom  Gibbons,  if  you  take  me  down  to  the 
lock-up."  Nevertheless,  two  hours  later  Irish 
Ann  and  myself  were  in  the  lock-up- — a  small 
building  having  but  one  room,  with  a  little  win- 
dow near  the  top,  crossed  by  three  iron  bars. 


92  A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE. 

It  was  such  a  lock-up  as  may  be  seen 
in  any  small  town  where  they  may  be  sup- 
posed to  have  use  for  such  a  place  once  a 
week,  or  such  a  matter,  to  lock  up  a  drunken 
man  until  he  was  sober  enough  to  pay  his 
fine,  or  be  taken  to  the  county  jail. 

The  next  morning  we  were  taken  into 
Court ;  the  Justice  of  the  Peace  asked  me 
where  I  belonged.  I  thought  a  moment  and 
answered,  "I  don't  know."  He  then  asked 
me,  "Where  do  you  live  ?"  "  I  don't  know," 
I  again  answered.  He  gave  me  a  stern  look 
and  said,  "  We  want  no  such  characters  here  ; 
this  woman  you  are  living  with  promised  to 
leave  town  the  last  time  she  was  arrested." 

They  gave  me  two  hours  to  leave  town, 
but  Ann  was  given  sixty  days  in  the  County 
Jail.  Ann  whispered  to  me,  "  You  are  in 


A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE.  93 


luck,"  but  I  thought  to  myself,  how  I  wish  I 
had  been  given  the  sixty  days. 

Ann  was  taken  back  to  the  lock-up,  and 
the  Marshal  said  to  me,  "  Come,  you  better 
make  tracks  out  of  town  ;  you  won't  get  off 
so  easy  the  next  time."  I  said,  "  How  will 
I  go  out  of  town  ;  I  have  no  money,  and  I 
don't  know  the  way." 

He  laughed  and  said,  "Too  bad  about 
you — you  can't  come  the  innocent  game  over 
me — you  found  the  way  out  to  old  Ann's  all 
right ;"  but,  I  said,  a  girl  took  me  out  there  ; 
if  you  don't  believe  me  you  can  ask  her-;  she 

is  living  at  Rett  M .     "  Oh,"  said  he,  "so, 

you  were  there  too ;  why  did'nt  you  stay 
there  ?  then  you  would  not  be  in  this  trouble. 
She  has  a  little  sense."  "But,"  I  said,  "she 
didn't  want  me."  "  Then  you  must  be  pretty 
tough,  if  she  wouldn't  keep  you.  No  use 


r,i  A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE. 


talking  to  me — you  heard  what  the  Jud^e 
said.  You  better  get  out  of  the  town  before 
night,  if  you  know  what  is  good  for  you. 
Come,  come,  get  away  !  I  want  to  lock  Ann 
up,  and  get  through  with  this  business." 

I  went  out  on  the  street  and  walked  about 
for  some  time,  not  knowing  which  way  to  go. 
I  had  had  no  breakfast.  I  walked  around 
from  one  street  to  another,  wondering  how  do 
people  leave  town  when  they  have  no  place  to 
go.  How  much  better  will  I  be  in  another 
town  ?  Then  I  fell  to  wondering  what  they 
would  do  with  me  if  they  took  me  before  the 
Judge  again  ;  perhaps  hang  me  ! 

I  had  heard  at  the  time  of  the  Chicago 
fire  they  had  hung  a  man  for  lighting  a  match. 
That  seemed  a  little  thing  compared  to  all  I 
had  done. 


A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE.  95 

Of  course  I  hadn't  the  judgment  then  to 
see  what  made  the  difference.  Night  came. 
I  had  had  nothing  to  eat.  I  was  afraid  to  ask 
at-any  house,  for,  I  thought,  they  will  know  I 
was  told  to  leave  town.  I  did  not  know  but 
any  one  who  owned  a  house  could  arrest  me. 

Officers  of  the  law  and  the  way  the  laws 
were  enforced  were  all  mixed  up  in  my  mind. 
I  thought,  the  people  knew  all  about  it  as  well 
as  God.  I  told  that  lie.  I  stole  the  crackers, 
and  I  am  so  wicked  they  didn't  want  me  in 
this  town.  I  thought,  may-be  if  I  was  in 
another  town,  perhaps  I  would  dare  ask  for 
something  to  eat.  I  will  go  to  the  depot  and 
ask  the  conductor  if  I  may  ride  on  his  train. 
I  would  have  walked,  but  I  was  faint,  hungry 
and  cold. 

So  I  went  to  the  depot  and  waited  out- 
side, till  some  one- asked  me  if  I  was  waiting 


96  A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE 

for  the  train.  I  said,  "  Yes,  sir."  He  said, 
"  The  train  is  not  due  till  ten-thirty."  Then  I 
knew  that  was  the  train  we  came  on  from 
Kalamazoo,  and  if  the  conductor  would  let  me 
ride  I  would  be  going  far  away  from  Kalama- 
zoo. The  man  told  me  to  go  in  the  depot 
and  wait.  So  I  went  in.  Hope  had  sprung 
up  again.  I  thought,  perhaps  if  I  can  get  to 
the  next  town  some  one  will  befriend  me. 

After  this  hope  came  to  me  I  was  anxious 
to  keep  away  from  the  officers.  It  was  an 
hour  and  a  half  before  the  train  would  come  ; 
so  I  sat  and  thought  how  I  would  say  to  the 
conductor  :  "  Please  let  me  ride  on  your  train." 
I  thought  the  conductors  owned  the  trains. 

So  I  pictured  to  myself  how,  in  a  strange 
place,  I  would  go  out  in  the  country  and  find 
me  a  place  to  work.  But  I  would  not  tell  all 
that  had  happened  to  me,  or  how  wicked  I 


A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE.  97 

had  been.  I  crouched  down  in  the  furthest 
corner  of  the  bench  in  the  depot,  so  the  offi- 
cers would  not  see  me  if  they  looked  in  at  the 
windows. 

Overcome  by  the  heat  of  the  room,  I  fell 
asleep.  The  train  came  and  went,  and  still  I 
slept  the  deep  sleep  of  exhaustion.  Soon  the 
yard-man  who  had  told  me  to  go  in  the  depot 
came  to  lock  up  the  depot.  "  Wake  up  !  "  he 
said  ;  "  wake  up  !  Your  train  has  gone." 

I  had  been  so  sound  asleep  I  did 
not  know,  for  a  moment,  where  I  was. 
I  said,  "Am  I  arrested?"  He  answered, 
"  What  is  the  matter  of  you  ?  Are  you  dream- 
ing ?  Your  train  has  gone  and  left  you  ? " 
Then  I  understood  everything.  He  looked 
at  me  and  said  again,  "  You  must  be  dream- 
ing. Don't  you  understand  ?  "  What  could 


98  A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE. 

I  say?  His  last  words,  "Your  train  has 
gone,"  were  ringing  in  my  ears. 

I  got  up  and  walked  out  of  the  depot.  A 
man  passed  me  with  a  satchel  in  each  hand. 
Going  to  the  door,  he  said,  "Are  there  no 
lunch  counters  here  ?  "  Lunch  counter  !  I 
stopped  and  listened.  He  continued  :  "This 
is  a  fine  place — everything  dead  before  eleven 
o'clock."  The  yard-man  told  him  there  was 
a  restaurant  down  town  that  did  not  close 
till  after  this  train,  and  directed  him  where  to 
find  it.  "All  right,"  he  answered,  "thank 
you,"  and  started  down  town  as  fast  as  he 
could  walk. 

I  looked  around.  There  was  no  officer 
in  sight,  so  I  started  after  him  as  fast  as  I 
could  go.  He  is  a  stranger,  I  thought. 
I  heard  him  say  so.  I  will  ask  him 
to  give  me  something  to  eat  He  heard 


A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE.  90 

me  walking  behind  him,  and  stopped.  I 
stopped,  too.  He  walked  on  a  few  steps.  So 
did  I,  then  he  stopped  again.  The  streets 
were  quite  dark,  and  the  depot  some  distance 
from  the  business  street  of  the  town.  I  hid 
near  the  fence,  for  I  thought  I  would  not  ask 
him  till  he  found  the  restaurant.  He  started 
on  again,  and  so  did  I. 

Hearing  my  steps,  he  stopped  once  more, 
and,  this  time  putting  down  his  satchels,  turned 
and  came  back  a  few  steps,  saying,  "  Who  are 
you  ;  what  are  you  following  me  for ;  what  do 
you  want  ?"  Here  is  my  chance,  I  thought  to 
myself.  I  answered,  "  Something  to  eat ;  I 
am  so  hungry."  "Where  is  your  home?"  he 
asked.  "  I  have  no  home."  "Where  do  you 
belong  ?"  "  No  place."  "  How  old  are  you  ?" 
"  Fifteen  last  April." 

It  seemed  to  me  his  voice  trembled  as  he 


100  A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE. 

said,  "  Come  along,  I  don't  care  where  you 
belong,  if  you  are  hungry  you  shall  have 
something  to  eat  if  it  can  be  found  in  the 
town." 

He  took  me  with  him  to  the  restaurant  and 
order  ed  supper  for  himself  and  me.  He  took  me 
in  a  little  room,  with  a  curtain.  He  said,  "Now, 
what  is  your  name  ?"  I  told  him.  "  Well,  Geor- 
gie,  order  anything  you  want,  and  I  will  talk  to 
you  after  you  have  eaten  your  supper,  and  see 
what  I  can  do  for  you."  After  supper  I  told  him 
all  that  happened  to  me.  I  have  many  times 
since  then  wondered  if  he  believed  me.  I 
don't  think  it  seemed  credible  to  him,  through 
all  these  places,  and  still  so  ignorant. 

After  thinking  some  time  he  said  to  me, 
"  If  I  paid  your  fare,  and  sent  you  to  your 
brother's  home,  don't  you  think  he  would  take 
care  of  you."  I  told  him  what  Mr.  Burlin- 


A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE.  101 

• 

game  had  done  for  me.  "  Then,"  he  said, 
"  I  don't  know  how  to  befriend  you.  !  know 
of  no  place  to  send  you. 

"  I  am  traveling  for  a  firm  in  Toledo. 
This  is  the  first  time  I  have  made  this  town, 
so  I  am  a  stranger  here.  I  will  take  you  to  a 
hotel  and  pay  for  your  lodging,  and  then, 
some  time  to-morrow,  I  will  come  in  and  see 
you.  In  the  meantime  I  will  think  what  can 
be  done  for  you."  He  went  out  in  the  other 
room  to  pay  for  the  supper.  While  he  was 
gone  I  gathered  up  the  biscuits  and  crackers 
left  on  the  table,  and  put  them  in  the  top  of 
my  hat,  and  then  put  it  on  my  head  quick,  so 
they  would  not  fall  out. 

He  took  me  to  the  hotel,  told  the  clerk  to 
give  me  a  room,  then,  turning  to  me,  he  said, 
"  I  will  see  you  to-morrow."  The  clerk  took 
me  up  stairs,  gave  me  a  room,  and  started 


102  A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE. 


to  go  down  stairs,  but  turned  back  to  give 
me  the  key  of  the  room.  Just  as  I  was  try- 
ing to  take  off  my  hat,  he  opened  the  door. 
I  was  startled,  and  the  biscuit  and  crack- 
ers rolled  all  over  the  floor.  Of  course  he 
laughed,  but  said  nothing,  as  he  gave  me  the 
key  and  left  the  room. 


A   MAGDALEN'S  LIFE. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


The  next  morning  I  was  called  to  break- 
fast. Soon  after  a  note  came  for  me,  with 
four  dollars  enclosed.  He  said  in  the  note,  I 
must  try  and  do  the  best  I  could ;  he  was 
very  sorry  for  me,  and  hoped  everything 
would  turn  out  all  right  for  me.  I  thought  to 
myself,  the  clerk  told  him  of  the  biscuits  and 
crackers,  and  he  will  not  befriend  me  when  he 
knows  I  am  a  thief.  I  knew  afterward  the 
hotel  I  was  at  was  not  the  one  where  he 
stayed.  Of  course  I  have  realized  since  it 
would  not  be  just  the  thing  to  openly  befriend 
a  girl  picked  up  on  the  street. 


104  A  MAGDALEN'S  LfFE. 

That  afternoon  I  tried  to  decide  what 
would  be  the  best  thing  for  me  to  do.  Per- 
haps, if  I  went  to  Toledo  I  would  find  people 
who  were  very  different ;  I  may  find  some  one 
like  my  mother. 

I  started  once  more  for  the  depot,  went  into 
the  waiting  room,  and  the  first  person  I  saw 
was  "Tom  Gibbons."  He  came  toward  meat 
once,  and  said,  "I  thought  you  were  told  to 
leave  town."  I  told  him  of  my  going  to  sleep 
the  night  before  and  missing  the  train.  He 
asked  me  what  place  I  came  from,  and  I  told 
him  Kalamazoo.  He  said,  "  Have  you  any 
money?"  I  opened  my  hand,  showing  him 
the  four  dollars.  He  said,  "  I  guess  you  did  not 
sleep  much."  As  he  spoke  he  took  the  money 
from  my  hand.  "Now,  I  will  give  you  one 
more  chance  to  leave  this  place  without  get- 
ting into  trouble  again.  I  will  buy  you  a 


A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE.  105 


ticket  back  to  Kalamazoo ;  the  train  is  due  in 
forty  minutes.  I  will  see  you  on  that  train  or 
lock  you  up  in  a  hurry." 

I  made  no  reply.  What  could  I  say  ?  The 
most  of  this  was  said  in  a  loud  tone  of  author- 
ity, and  heard  by  the  few  people  in  the  wait- 
ing-room. I  sat  down  on  one  of  the  seats.  I 
had  had  no  dinner ;  only  my  lodging  and 
breakfast  had  been  paid  for  at  the  hotel,  so  as 
I  sat  waiting,  I  took  a  biscuit  out  of  my  pocket 
and  began  eating  it.  1  heard  the  Marshall 
telling  some  man  he  was  talking  with  that  I 
was  a  "tramp,"  (was  I?)  and  had  been 
arrested  with  Irish  Ann,  in  her  dive.  "I  am 
determined,"  he  said,  "  to  keep  such  characters 
out  of  the  town.  Elkhart  is  bad  enough  as  it  is." 
The  train  then  came  in.  Tom  Gibbons  turned 
to  me,  saying,  "  Come,"  and  I  went  with  him. 
He  gave  the  ticket  to  the  conductor,  and  said 


106  A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE. 

a  few  words  to  him,  and  then  handed  me  a  few 
cents  of  change.  The  train  pulled  out,  and  there 
I  was — going  back  to  Kalamazoo.  When  the 
.conductor  came  through  the  train  I  asked  him 
if  I  couldn't  go  to  Toledo  on  the  ticket  the 
officer  gave  him  for  me.  He  said,  "  No, 
you  should  have  bought  your  ticket  for  To- 
ledo, and  taken  the  Air-Line  Road,"  and 
passed  on. 

About  midnight  the  train  arrived  at  Kal- 
amazoo. The  hackmen  were  crying,  "  Hack 
to  any  part  of  the  city."  One  of  them,  com- 
ing up  to  where  I  was  standing,  said,  "  Have 
a  hack,  lady  ?  "  What  did  I  see  but  the  face 
of  the  man  who  had  tried  to  make  me  drink. 
He  said,  "  Why,  where  did  you  come  from  ?  " 
"  Elkhart,"  I  answered.  "Are  you  going 
down  on  the  dock  ?  "  he  asked.  "  I  know  a 
woman  who  Vants  a  girl.  Get  in  the  hack 


A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE  107 


and  I  will  drive  you  there."  Ten  minutes 
later  I  was  in  the  house  of  Minnie  Ray,  known 
as  "  The  Cottage." 

There  is  no  need  to  go  into  details.  I 
soon  found  I  was  expected  to  pay  my  board, 
dress  like  the  other  girls,  and  not  to  ask  too 
many  questions. 

Three  weeks  from  that  day,  for  the  first 
time,  I  owned  the  dress  I  wore.  I  was  told  I 
must  ask  men  to  drink,  and  I  must  drink  my- 
self if  asked  to  do  so  by  the  gentlemen  ;  these 
were  the  rules  of  the  house.  I  had  been  in 
"  The  Cottage  "  about  five  weeks,  when  the 
women  on  the  dock  gave  a  dance  in  the  back 
room  of  a  saloon  near  the  dock.  At  that 
dance  I  was  asked,  nay  urged,  to  take  my 
first  drink  of  whisky.  - 1  had  been  drinking 
wine  when  asked,  but  this  drink  of  whisky 


108  A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE. 

made  me  frantic.    Ever  one  was  singing,  some 
fighting. 

The  man  who  had  bought  the  whisky  was 
talking  to  me,  when  a  girl  who  said  he  was 
her  lover  walked  up  and  struck  me  with  her 
fist,  knocking  me  down.  The  girls  all 
screamed,  "A  fight!  a  fight!"  and  gathered 
around,  crying,  "  Give  it  to  her  !  Give  it  to 
her  ! "  some  claiming  to  be  my  friends,  some 
hers  ;  all,  as  they  said,  anxious  to  see  fair  play. 
I  fought  savagely,  not  caring  for  anything,  or 
realizing  what  I  was  doing,  till  some  one 
shouted,  "Police/" 

Officers  came  in  and  arrested  us  both. 
The  next  morning  we  were  taken  in  court 
and  fined  $15  and  costs,  or  sixty-five  days 
in  the  Detroit  House  of  Correction. 

The  landlady  of  the  girl  who  fought  me 
came  and  paid  her  fine  ;  she  had  a  trunk  and 


A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE.  109 

clothes,  but  I  had  nothing  to  secure  Minnie 
Ray,  and  had  run  away  from  Mrs.  Thompson; 
so  I  was  taken  to  the  workhouse  just  as  I 
had  been  taken  from  the  dance,  with  nothing 
around  me,  a  cut  and  swollen  lip,  and  a  black 
eye.  I  was  kept  in  a  cell  until  my  eye  was 
better,  then  taken  in  the  shop  and  taught  to 
cane  chairs. 

According  to  the  rules,  I  was  not  allowed 
to  speak  to  any  one,  unless  to  answer  a 
matron.  The  first  morning  I  curled  my  hair, 
after  the  line  of  girls  from  the  tier  of  cells  were 
in  their  places  in  the  workshop.  I  was  sent 
back  to  my  cell  to  put  on  a  net,  and  told  not 
to  curl  rny  hair  again.  There  was  a  Bible  in 
my  cell.  I  read  it  nights  as  long  as  I  could 
see,  and  thought  of  mother. 

When  my  time  was  nearly  out,  one  of  the 
matrons,  who  had,  on  several  occasions  spok- 


110  A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE. 


en  very  kindly  to  me,  asked  me  my  name,  and 
why  I  had  been  sent  there.  I  told  her,  and 
she  said,  "  Be  a  good  girl  when  you  go  away, 
'31,'  and  never  come  back  again."  I  prom- 
ised to  remember,  though  I  v/as  that  moment 
actually  wishing  I  could  stay  there  longer. 

When  my  time  was  up  I  was1  given  a 
work-house  ticket  back  to  Kalamazoo,  and 
$1.90  I  had  earned  by  working  over-time. 
On  arriving  at  Kalamazoo  I  went  at  once  to 
Minnie  Ray's.  Minnie  told  me  she  had  all 
the  girls  she  wanted  at  present,  but  that  I 
could  stay  till  I  found  a  place. 

That  night  a  man  from  Detroit  came  to 
the  house.  I  asked  him  if  he  knew  of  any . 
place  I  could  go,  and  he  told  me  the  best  house 
of  the  kind  in  Grand  Rapids  was  Mate  Elli- 
ott's, and  he  would  advise  me  to  go  there  at 
once.  He  wrote  a  note  to  Mate  Elliott,  tell- 


A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE.  Ill 


ing  her  he  had  sent  me ;  so  the  next  day  I 
started  for  Grand  Rapids,  arriving  early  in  the 
evening.  She  received  me  kindly,  but  told 
me  I  could  not  come  in  the  parlors  until  I 
had  something  suitable  to  wear,  like  the  other 
girls. 

The  next  day  a  dressmaker  was  sent  for, 
my  measure  taken,  and  two  evening  dresses, 
white  wrappers  for  day  wear,  slippers  and  silk 
hose  were  ordered.  My  bill  was  made  out 
and  I  found  myself  $60  in  debt  for  clothes, 
and  yet  no  street  dress  —  nothing.!  would  take 
with  me  if  I  left  the  house  —  only  the  clothes 
I  had  worn  there.  This  is  one  of  the  rules  of 
these  houses. 

She  was  a  very  kind-hearted  woman,  but 
I  had  nothing  to  secure  her.  She  kept  what 
was  called  a  first-class  house.  The  girls  were 
very  different  from  those  I  had  met  before. 


112  A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE. 

They  did  not  drink  nor  swear.     Nothing  but 
champaigne  was  sold. 


A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE.  113 


CHAPTER  X. 


Weeks  went  by.  I  accepted  the  only  life 
open  to  me,  thinking  I  can  live  if  others  do. 
I  did  not  dare  even  to  hope  to  see  my  mother 
again.  Many  times  I  would  find  the  girls 
crying  in  their  rooms.  One  day  I  told  one  of 
the  girls  I  had  a  mother.  She  asked,  "  Why 
don't  you  write  to  her  ?  "  I  told  her  I  did  not 
dare  write  and  tell  her  where  I  was."  "  Of 
course  not,"  she  said ;  "write  and  tell  her  you 
are  living  with  your  husband,  or  working  out. 
If  I  had  a  mother  I  would  write  to  her,  no 
matter  where  I  was  or  what  I  was  doing. 
My  mother  died  when  I  was  only  four  years 
old,  and  my  father  gave  me  away.  I  have 


114  A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE. 

never  seen  him,  and  do  not  even  know  where 
he  is." 

This  was  a  new  idea  to  me.  I  had  never 
thought  of  writing  anything  but  the  simple 
truth  to  mother  —  how  could  I  ?  Still  I 
longed  so  to  hear  from  her ;  it  seemed  years 
since  I  had  seen  her.  After  thinking  some 
time  I  decided  to  write  and  not  say  one  word 
of  my  trouble.  She  knew  I  was  married. 
So  that  night  I  wrote  a  long  letter,  and  sent 
it  in  care  of  my  brother  at  Sand  Lake. 

It  was  over  a  week  before  I  received  an 
answer,  and  then  it  came  from  Grand  Haven. 
My  mother  was  with  a  sister  there. 

The  letter  was  a  loving  one,  as  only  a 
mother  can  write,  telling  me  to  put  my  trust 
in  God  ;  He  would  always  help  me  and  care 
for  me.  She  wrote  ;  "  It  all  seems  so  strange 
to  me,  this  marriage  of  yours — you  so  young 


A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE.  116 

and  inexperienced ;  but  I  leave  everything 
with  God.  I  could  do  nothing  for  you.  The 
prayers  I  pray  for  you  I  know  will  be  answer- 
ed. Mother  can  not  come  to  see  you;  so  come 
when  you  can  and  see  mother." 

It  was  hard  for  me  to  write  to  her  that  I 
was  living  with  my  husband,  still,  if  I  did  not 
I  couldn't  write  to  her  at  all.  I  soon  argued 
myself  into  lying  to  mother.  It  would  make 
mother  happy  to  think  I  was  in  a  home  of  my 
own ;  what  difference  would  one  more  lie 
make  ? 

So  I  wrote  to  mother  regularly  ;  sent  her 
money,  praying  God  to  forgive  me  if  it  was 
wrong  to  let  her  do  unconsciously  what  she 
would  not  do  if  she  knew — use  sin-stained 

A 

money. 

When  my  mother  died  I  reached  her  bed- 
side in  time  for  her  to  put  her  hands  on  my 


116  A  MAGDALEN'S  LIFE. 


head  and  bless  me,  saying-,  "  Jennie,  you  are  and 
have  always  been  mother's  good  girl ;  God 
will  bless  you  for  being  such  a  good  girl  to 
mother."  I  thought  I  had  made  my  eternal 
damnation  still  more  certain  by  this  deception; 
but  what  did  I  care,  I  had  made  her  happier 
by  it. 

Now,  mother  was  gone,  it  didn't  matter 
much  to  me  what  I  did.  I  had  to  put  her  out 
of  my  thought  in  order  to  go  on  with  the  life 
I  had  now  come  to  regard  as  my  business. 

It  is  needless  for  me  to  open  the  door  of 
the  house  of  which  I  was  Landlady  for  ten 
years,  and  yet  I  could  show  you  how  the  wild 
revelry  of  sin  does  often  drown  the  cry  of 
aching  hearts,  and  quench  the  sobs  of  peni- 
tence and  remorse.  I  could  prove  the  truth 
of  that  old  statement,  "  Though  I  make  my 
bed  in  Hell,  behold  Thou  art  there." 
[THE  END.] 


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